Presidents’ Sex and Popularity: Baselines, Dynamics and Policy Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1359-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan E Carlin ◽  
Miguel Carreras ◽  
Gregory J Love

AbstractPublic approval is a crucial source of executive power in presidential systems. Does the public support female and male presidents similarly? Combining insights from gender and politics research with psychological evidence, this study theorizes sex-based differentials in popularity based on more general expectations linking gender stereotypes to diverging performance evaluations. Using quarterly analyses of eighteen Latin American democracies, South Korea and the Philippines, the analyses compare the levels, dynamics, and policy performance of macro-approval for male and female presidents. As expected, female presidents are less popular, experience exaggerated approval dynamics and their approval is more responsive to security and corruption (though not economic) outcomes. These findings have clear implications for our understandings of mass politics, political accountability and presidentialism.

Author(s):  
Michele Lobina ◽  
Marco Bottone

This chapter studies the process of trust building in politics by using large data set on political behaviour in Latin America. The results yielded by developed models indicate specific elements as the most influential on the popular trust in institutions. These observed determinants were enclosed in five macro classes: cohesion of society; economic factors; electoral transparency; efficiency of judicial organs; and crime diffusion. The analysis of the public support in governments and parliaments revealed that certain variables have a direct impact on the stability of the Latin American democracies, while other factors merely determine the likelihood of a government's reappointment.


2019 ◽  
pp. 641-664
Author(s):  
Michele Lobina ◽  
Marco Bottone

This chapter studies the process of trust building in politics by using large data set on political behaviour in Latin America. The results yielded by developed models indicate specific elements as the most influential on the popular trust in institutions. These observed determinants were enclosed in five macro classes: cohesion of society; economic factors; electoral transparency; efficiency of judicial organs; and crime diffusion. The analysis of the public support in governments and parliaments revealed that certain variables have a direct impact on the stability of the Latin American democracies, while other factors merely determine the likelihood of a government's reappointment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIN SKAAR

AbstractMany Latin American countries are moving towards increased accountability for past human rights violations, and there is a growing global consensus that international law does not allow some crimes simply to be exempted from prosecution. Uruguay has had a deeply split response to these developments. While the Supreme Court and the political elite increasingly pushed to end impunity, the public actually ratified the 1985 amnesty law protecting the military from prosecution in a 2009 plebiscite. The amnesty law was finally abolished by Parliament in 2011. This article traces the winding road from impunity to accountability in Uruguay in the context of substantial public support for impunity. It argues that, while the lack of judicial independence obstructed the quest for justice for many years, the combination of continued civil society demands for justice met by increasingly human-rights-friendly executives and liberal-minded judges (and lately also prosecutors) explains the recent advance in retributive justice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Charmaine Samala Guno ◽  
Angelie Azcuna Collera ◽  
Casper Boongaling Agaton

Electrification of public utility vehicles plays a vital role in the transition towards a more sustainable transport system. However, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) encounters varying challenges ranging from financing issues, government policies, and public acceptance. Using the Philippines as a case, this research applies political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) analysis to determine how different drivers affect the adoption of EVs in the public transport system from various transport stakeholders’ vantage points. Survey results identified economic and technological factors as the main barriers to the adoption of electric public transport. This includes high investment and operational costs, lack of charging infrastructure, issues in driving range and use in different terrains, and the availability of EV parts and repair stations. On the other hand, the main enabler is the significant public support for the modernization of the public transport system through EVs, backed up by policy and legal drivers. For a zero-emission public transport system, this study recommends that the government should invest in sustainable sources of energy, develop more public infrastructure, diversify the transport sector, fund the development of locally made EVs, and initiate a massive information campaign in educating the public of its advantages.


Author(s):  
Yevgeny Victorovich Romat ◽  
Yury Volodimirovich Havrilechko

The article is devoted to research of theoretical problems of the concepts of the subject and object of public marketing. The definitions of these concepts are considered in the article, the evolution of their development is studied. The article provides an analysis of the main approaches to the notion of subjects and objects of public marketing, their relationship and role in the processes of public marketing. The authors proposes concrete approaches to their systematization. These approaches allow us to identify specific types of public marketing and their main characteristics. Relying on the analysis of the concept of “subject of public (state) management”, it is concluded that as bodies of state marketing, most often act as executive bodies of state power. In this case, the following levels of marketing subjects in the system of public administration are allocated: the highest level of executive power; Branch central bodies of executive power; Local government bodies; Separate government agencies. It is noted that the diversity of subjects of public marketing is explained, first of all, by the dependence on the tasks of the state and municipal government, the possibilities of introducing the marketing concept of these subjects and certain characteristics of the said objects of state marketing. It is noted that the concept of “subject of public marketing” is not always the identical notion of “subject of public administration”. First, not all public authorities are subjects of state marketing. In some cases, this is not appropriate, for example, in the activities of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Secondly, state marketing is just one of many alternative management concepts, which is not always the most effective in the public administration system.


Author(s):  
Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer

In this introductory chapter of Gender and Representation in Latin America, Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer argues that gender inequality in political representation in Latin America is rooted in institutions and the democratic challenges and political crises facing Latin American countries. She situates the book in two important literatures—one on Latin American politics and democratic institutions, the other on gender and politics—and then explains how the book will explore the ways that institutions and democratic challenges and political crises moderate women’s representation and gender inequality. She introduces the book’s framework of analyzing the causes and consequences of women’s representation, overviews the organization of the volume, and summarizes the main arguments of the chapters.


Author(s):  
Alison Brysk

Chapter 6 concerns denial of women’s right to life . The new frame of “femicide” has dramatically increased attention to gender-based killing in the public and private sphere, and encompasses a spectrum of threats and assaults that culminate in murder. The chapter follows the threats to women’s security through the life cycle, beginning with cases of “gendercide” (sex-selective abortion and infanticide) in India, then moving to honor killings in Turkey and Pakistan. We examine public femicide in Mexico and Central America—with comparison to the disappearance of indigenous women in Canada, as “second-class citizens” in a developed democracy. The chapter continues mapping the panorama of private sphere domestic violence in the semi-liberal gender regimes of China, Russia, Brazil, and the Philippines, along with a range of responses in law, public policy, advocacy, and protest.


Author(s):  
Ole Jakob Løland

AbstractThe battle for meaning and influence between Latin American liberations theologians and the Vatican was one of the most significant conflicts in the global Catholic church of the twentieth century. With the election of the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio as head of the global church in 2013, the question about the legacy of liberation theology was actualized. The canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the pope’s approximation to the public figure of Gustavo Gutiérrez signaled a new approach to the liberation theology movement in the Vatican. This article argues that Pope Francis shares some of the main theological concerns as pontiff with liberation theology. Although the pope remains an outsider to liberation theology, he has in a sense solved the conflict between the Vatican and the Latin American social movement. Through an analysis of ecclesial documents and theological literature, his can be discerned on three levels. First, Pope Francis’ use of certain theological ideas from liberation theology has been made possible and less controversial by post-cold war contexts. Second, Pope Francis has contributed to the solution of this conflict through significant symbolic gestures rather than through a shift of official positions. Third, as Pope Francis, the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio has appropriated certain elements that are specific to liberation theology without acknowledging his intellectual debt to it.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402198975
Author(s):  
Ryan E. Carlin ◽  
Timothy Hellwig ◽  
Gregory J. Love ◽  
Cecilia Martínez-Gallardo ◽  
Matthew M. Singer

Public evaluations of the economy are key for understanding how citizens develop policy opinions and monitor government performance. But what drives economic evaluations? In this article, we argue the context in which information about the economy is distributed shapes economic perceptions. In high-quality information environments—where policies are transparent, the media is free, and political opposition is robust—mass perceptions closely track economic conditions. In contrast, compromised information environments provide openings for political manipulation, leading perceptions to deviate from business cycle fluctuations. We test our argument with unique data from eight Latin American countries. Results show restrictions on access to information distort the public’s view of economic performance. The ability of voters to sanction governments is stronger when democratic institutions and the media protect citizens’ access to independent, unbiased information. Our findings highlight the importance of accurate evaluations of the economy for government accountability and democratic responsiveness.


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