scholarly journals Taming the Tiger: Voting Rights and Political Instability in Latin America

2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep M. Colomer
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Levels

AbstractThis article discusses the relationship between certain institutional regulations of voting rights and elections, different levels of electoral participation, and the degree of political instability in several Latin American political experiences. A formal model specifies the hypotheses that sudden enlargements of the electorate may provoke high levels of political instability, especially under plurality and other restrictive electoral rules, while gradual enlargements of the electorate may prevent much electoral and political innovation and help stability. Empirical data illustrate these hypotheses. A historical survey identifies different patterns of political instability and stability in different countries and periods, which can be compared with the adoption of different voting rights regulations and electoral rules either encouraging or depressing turnout.

Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia McClintock
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Political Exclusion ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Freedom House

During Latin America’s third democratic wave, a majority of countries adopted a runoff rule for the election of the president. This book is the first rigorous assessment of the implications of runoff versus plurality for democracy in the region. Despite previous scholarly skepticism about runoff, it has been positive for Latin America, and could be for the United States also. Primarily through qualitative analysis for each Latin American country, I explore why runoff is superior to plurality. Runoff opens the political arena to new parties but at the same time ensures that the president does not suffer a legitimacy deficit and is not at an ideological extreme. By contrast, in a region in which undemocratic political parties are common, the continuation of these parties is abetted by plurality; political exclusion provoked disillusionment and facilitated the emergence of presidents at ideological extremes. In regression analysis, runoff was statistically significant to superior levels of democracy. Between 1990 and 2016, Freedom House and Varieties of Democracy scores plummeted in countries with plurality but improved in countries with runoff. Plurality advocates’ primary concern is the larger number of political parties under runoff. Although a larger number of parties was not significant to inferior levels of democracy, a plethora of parties is problematic, leading to a paucity of legislative majorities and inchoate parties. To ameliorate the problem, I recommend not reductions in the 50% threshold but the scheduling of the legislative election after the first round or thresholds for entry into the legislature.

Capitalism and the State in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esteban Torres ◽  
Carina Borrastero
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The State ◽  
American Sociology ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Relationship

This article analyzes how the research on the relation between capitalism and the state in Latin America has developed from the 1950s up to the present. It starts from the premise that knowledge of this relation in sociology and other social sciences in Latin America has been taking shape through the disputes that have opposed three intellectual standpoints: autonomist, denialist, and North-centric. It analyzes how these standpoints envision the relationship between economy and politics and how they conceptualize three regionally and globally growing trends: the concentration of power, social inequality, and environmental depletion. It concludes with a series of challenges aimed at restoring the theoretical and political potency of the autonomist program in Latin American sociology.

scholarly journals The Influence of Government Effectiveness and Corruption on the High Levels of Homicide in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Spencer P. Chainey ◽  
Gonzalo Croci ◽  
Laura Juliana Rodriguez Forero
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
International Variation ◽  
Government Effectiveness ◽  
Latin American Region ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Structural Variables ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Latin America Region

Most research that has examined the international variation in homicide levels has focused on structural variables, with the suggestion that socio-economic development operates as a cure for violence. In Latin America, development has occurred, but high homicide levels remain, suggesting the involvement of other influencing factors. We posit that government effectiveness and corruption control may contribute to explaining the variation in homicide levels, and in particular in the Latin America region. Our results show that social and economic structural variables are useful but are not conclusive in explaining the variation in homicide levels and that the relationship between homicide, government effectiveness, and corruption control was significant and highly pronounced for countries in the Latin American region. The findings highlight the importance of supporting institutions in improving their effectiveness in Latin America so that reductions in homicide (and improvements in citizen security in general) can be achieved.

“Borderland” as a way of preserving and asserting identity. The historical experience of the Native American cultures of Latin America in a universal context

2021 ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Yakov Shemyakin
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Native American ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Cultural System ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Linguistic Reality

The article substantiates the thesis that modern Native American cultures of Latin America reveal all the main features of "borderland" as a special state of the socio-cultural system (the dominant of diversity while preserving the unity sui generis, embodied in the very process of interaction of heterogeneous traditions, structuring linguistic reality in accordance with this dominant, the predominance of localism in the framework of the relationship between the universal and local dimensions of the life of Latin American societies, the key role of archaism in the system of interaction with the heritage of the 1st "axial time», first of all, with Christianity, and with the realities of the "second axial time" - the era of modernization. The author concludes that modern Indian cultures are isomorphic in their structure to the "borderline" Latin American civilization, considered as a "coalition of cultures" (K. Levi-Strauss), which differ significantly from each other, but are united at the deepest level by an extremely contradictory relationship of its participants.

scholarly journals Economic sanctions and human rights: an analysis of competing enforcement strategies in Latin America

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiane de Andrade Lucena Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Political Terror ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

This article addresses the consequences of economic sanctions for the protection of human rights in Latin America. The literature on sanctions and compliance informs three hypotheses, which investigate the relationship between sanctions and the level of rights protection in two groups of countries: those that were targeted by sanctions and those that were not. Using data from the Political Terror Scale (PTS) and from Freedom House, I find empirical evidence that sanctions do improve the level of protection in countries that were not targeted. This finding can be explained by the deterrent effect attributed to sanctions by the compliance literature, broadly interpreted. The presence of economic sanctions in a given year increases the probability of observing better human rights practices by almost 50%. These results hold for the 12 Latin American countries that were not subject to economic sanctions for the period 1976-2004.

scholarly journals CRECIMIENTO ECONÓMICO Y DESIGUALDAD EN ASIA, EUROPA Y AMÉRICA LATINA, 1990-2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (315) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Verónica Cerezo García ◽  
Heri Oscar Landa Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Exogenous Shock ◽  
America Latina ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Sample Set

<p>El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el efecto de la liberalización comercial sobre la productividad, la distribución del ingreso y el crecimiento económico, además de examinar la capacidad de absorción que este proceso ha concedido a los países ante choques externos, como el Covid-19. Empíricamente, tomamos pie en la taxonomía de crecimiento y desigualdad de Fajnzylber (1990) y en un modelo panel para evaluar esta relación en Asia, América Latina y Europa durante el periodo 1990-2019. Los principales resultados muestran: 1) co-movimiento entre crecimiento y equidad en Asia, mientras que en América Latina hay rezagos significativos, y 2) la productividad y la competitividad no precio constituyen el factor dinamizante en Asia y Europa.</p><p align="center"><strong> </strong></p><p align="center">ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INEQUALITY IN ASIA, EUROPE, AND LATIN AMERICA, 1990-2019</p><p align="center"><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p>The paper’s aim is to analyse the effect of trade liberalization on productivity, income distribution and economic growth. The ability of a free-market oriented economy to fence off an exogenous shock such as the Covid-19 pandemic is also dealt with. Following Fajnzylber’s (1990) taxonomy of growth and inequality, we assess the relationship between trade liberalisation, growth and income distribution for a sample set of Asian, Latin American, and European countries over the period 1990-2019. Our main empirical results show that there exist: 1) a co-movement between growth and equality in Asia, but significant lags in both respects prevail in Latin America; 2) productivity and non-price competitiveness are the dynamizing factors in both Asia and Europe</p>

scholarly journals Presidentas Rise: Consequences for Women in Cabinets?

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Reyes-Housholder
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Empirical Implications

AbstractSince 1999, women have democratically won the presidency eight times in Latin America and have named hundreds of ministers. This study argues that under certain conditions,presidentasare more likely than male presidents to improve women's cabinet representation. Two mechanisms,presidentamandates and gendered networks, appear to drive the relationship. Furthermore, because the pool of ministerial candidates is shallower for women than for men,presidentasare most likely to advance women's representation in cabinets at the beginning of their term and for “feminine” ministries. A case study of Michelle Bachelet's 2006 ministerial appointments reveals initial evidence for the argument. Empirical implications are then tested with an original dataset of 1,908 ministers of all democratically elected Latin American presidents since 1999. Model results are consistent with the theory thatpresidentasare most likely to “make a difference” when they are least constrained by the supply of female ministerial candidates.

Inequality, Social Comparison, and Relative Deprivation

1983 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Panning
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In this article I present a formal model of relative deprivation and demonstrate its implications concerning the relationship between inequality and political instability. The model, which is based on assumptions similar to those of Nagel (1974), implies that the relationship of instability to inequality can be either curvilinear, as Nagel found, or linear, as Russett (1964) found, although under different conditions. In both cases the model implies that reducing inequality reduces the level of relative deprivation, thereby enhancing the prospect for political stability. However, changes in the tendency of individuals to compare their lot with that of others can also substantially affect the level of relative deprivation in a society.

The CARICOM States and the Group of Three: A New Partnership between Latin America and the Non-Hispanic Caribbean?

1991 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Serbin
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Caribbean Community ◽  
Hispanic Caribbean ◽  
American States ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Phase

In 1990, the relationship between the states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Latin American states of the Caribbean Basin seemed to have entered a new phase characterized by movement toward convergence, rapprochement, and initiatives of horizontal cooperation. This situation contrasts sharply with a past marked by persistent tensions and divergent views, rooted in legacies dating from colonial times of mutually disqualifying ethno-historical perceptions and boundary disputes and marked by frequent differences within the context of international organizations (Serbín, 1989a, 1989b, 1990d; Serbín and Bryan, 1990).

scholarly journals The Contentious Politics of Social Policy expansion in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3 - Sup2) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
César Guzmán-Concha ◽  
Rossella Ciccia
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Social Policy Reform ◽  
The Relationship

Latin America witnessed a resurgence of protests during the 1990s and early 2000s. Citizens took to the streets to protest against the liberalization of public services and rising levels of inequalities and poverty. This situation partly changed in the decade of the 2000s when the region experienced a period of sustained social policy expansion intended to extend protections to formerly excluded groups. Did popular mobilization have an influence on the turn toward universalism in Latin American social policy? This paper explores this question by looking at the relationship between protest, the strength of the Left and the adoption of expansive reforms in healthcare, conditional cash transfers and noncontributory pensions. The findings bring support to the idea that protest is a relevant aspect of the politics of social policy reform, although its effects are both sensitive to other characteristics of the political environment and the particular policy dimension considered. 

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