scholarly journals Outsiders and Executive-Legislative Conflict in Latin America

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (03) ◽  
pp. 70-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Carreras
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
The Third ◽  
Logistic Regressions

AbstractOne of the most significant developments in Latin American democracies since the beginning of the Third Wave of democratization is the rise to power of political outsiders. However, the study of the political consequences of this phenomenon has been neglected. This article begins to fill that gap by examining whether the rise of outsiders in the region increases the level of executive-legislative confrontation. Using an original database of political outsiders in Latin America, it reports a series of logistic regressions showing that the risk of executive-legislative conflict significantly increases when the president is an outsider. The likelihood of institutional paralysis increases when an independent gets elected, due to the legislative body's lack of support for the president and the outsider's lack of political skills. The risk of an executive's attempted dissolution of Congress is also much higher when the president is an outsider.

scholarly journals Three Waves of Populism in Latin America

2014 ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
O. V. Varentsova
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Import Substitution ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
Political Transitions ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The Third ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Hugo Chavez

Contemporary political regimes in Venezuela and Bolivia led by late Hugo Châvez (now by his successor Nicolas Maduro) and Evo Morales are considered by foreign and Russian scholars as part of the third wave of populism. In the 20th century Latin America already witnessed two waves of populism which coincided with significant political transitions, namely a transition from oligarchy to mass politics accompanied by implementation of import substitution industrialization policies, and a transition from authoritarian rule to democracy during the third wave of democratization which triggered neoliberal reforms inspired by Washington Consensus. This article presents common characteristics of Latin American populist regimes that emerged in different historical periods which help identify the origins as well as distinctive features of Venezuelan and Bolivian political regimes. It is stated that the Châvez and Morales left populist regimes resemble classic populist regimes in that they rely on incendiary anti-establishment discourse. Therefore, left populist regimes are characterized by high levels of polarization as well as weak institutionalization and class or indigenous orientation. Election of left populist leaders may lead to institutional deadlock, uneven playing field and transition to competitive authoritarianism.

Presidential Term Limits in Latin America: c.1820–1985

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Leiv Marsteintredet
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Term Limits ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
American Experience ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Democratic Rule

Latin America holds a 200-year-long history of presidential constitutions. The region’s constitutional and democratic experimentation throughout history makes it an interesting laboratory to study the origins, development, and effects of presidential term limits. Based primarily on data from constitutions, this chapter provides an overview of presidential term limits in Latin America from independence until 1985. The chapter shows how term limits have varied across countries and time, and that the implementation of strict term limits often came as a reaction to prior dictatorial rules. Whereas both proponents and critics of consecutive reelection invoked arguments of democracy in their favour, the Latin American experience up until the Third Wave of Democracy shows that stable, republican, and democratic rule has only been possible under a ban on immediate presidential re-election.

Party Systems in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Wills-Otero
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
The Third ◽  
Voter Preferences ◽  
Political Configuration ◽  
American Party ◽  
Over Time

Since the beginning of the third wave of democratization in the late 1970s, Latin American party systems have confronted several challenges, and they have frequently been transformed. There have been various types of changes. While some systems collapsed in the 1990s (e.g., Venezuela and Peru), others realigned (Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay), or expanded (Argentina and Mexico), or were able to become consolidated and ensure their stability over time (e.g., Brazil). What factors explain the transformations in party systems during the past three decades, and how can Latin American party systems be classified according to their attributes? In trying to answer these questions, scholars of Latin America have undertaken studies that are both theoretically and empirically rich. Their work has increased our knowledge of the party systems and representative democracies in the region. Different factors have been highlighted in order to explain the changes these systems have undergone since the third wave of democratization. Some works emphasize the importance of institutional reforms introduced by politicians or by constitutional assemblies. The questions they address are the following: What political reforms have been introduced into Latin American political systems, and what effects have they had on the party systems in different countries? The researchers do not limit their attention to reforms of electoral systems. For example, some of them also study decentralization processes and their effects on party systems. From a different perspective, other authors focus on changes in electoral preferences and their effects on the configuration of political power, exploring how regional economic, political, and social changes have affected voter preferences and the political configuration of party systems. Still others consider the crises of democratic representation in these countries, underlining the decline in the programmatic character of parties as an explanatory variable for the crises and noting that the level of institutionalization of a party system declines when parties abandon this distinctive feature and become clientelistic or personalistic instead. On the other hand, in order to describe party systems and to observe the changes they have undergone, academics have proposed a set of concepts and measurements that make it possible to identify their levels of institutionalization (i.e., stability vs. volatility), nationalization, and programmatic structuration, among other aspects. The operationalization of these concepts has provided researchers with useful data for describing, comparing, and analyzing the party systems of the region transversely over time. Understanding the transformation and characteristics of Latin American party systems over time sheds light on both the progress democratic regimes have made and the setbacks they have suffered within specific countries and in the region at large.

Agrarian Elites and Democracy in Latin America after the Third Wave

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Fernández Milmanda
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Influence Strategies ◽  
Equal Distribution ◽  
Land Inequality ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Rich

The historical role of landed elites as obstacles to democratic consolidation in Latin America has been widely studied. Four decades after the onset of the third wave, however, the issue of how these elites have adapted to the new democratic context remains unexplored. The question of why these elites who supported military coups each time a government threatened their interests have mostly played by the democratic rulebook during the past four decades still needs to be answered. Important structural and political transformations took place in Latin America during the last half of the 20th and the first decade of the 21st century that affected agrarian elites’ incentives and capacity to organize politically. The first change was urbanization, which undermined agrarian elites’ capacity to mobilize the votes of the rural poor in favor of their political representatives. The second was an increase in the importance of agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange and revenue for Latin American countries thanks to the commodity boom of the 2000s. The third change was the arrival to power of left-wing parties with redistributive agendas, threatening agrarian elites’ interests in the region with the highest land inequality in the world. However, the fact that these governments relied on revenues from agriculture to fund their policy agendas created tension between the leftists’ ideological preferences for a more equal distribution of land and their fiscal needs. Dominant theories in political science suggest that democratization should lead to redistribution from the rich to the poor, as democracies represent the preferences of a wider spectrum of citizens than nondemocracies. Landowners, given the fixed nature of their assets, should be easy targets for increased taxation or expropriation. However, these theories understate landowners’ capacity to organize politically and use democratic institutions to their advantage. In fact, if we look at contemporary Latin America, we see that four decades of democracy have not changed the region’s extremely high land inequality. Agrarian elites in Latin America have deployed a variety of political influence strategies to protect themselves from redistribution. In some cases, such as Chile and El Salvador, they have built conservative parties to represent their interests in Congress. In others, like Brazil, they have invested in multiparty representation through a congressional caucus. Lastly, in other countries such as Argentina and Bolivia, agrarian elites have not been able to organize their electoral representation and instead have protected their interests from outside the policymaking arena through protests.

Palestinian Diaspora Communities in Latin America and Palestinian Statehood

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Yousef M. Aljamal ◽  
Philipp O. Amour
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
South America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The Political ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Right

There are some 700,000 Latin Americans of Palestinian origin, living in fourteen countries of South America. In particular, Palestinian diaspora communities have a considerable presence in Chile, Honduras, and El Salvador. Many members of these communities belong to the professional middle classes, a situation which enables them to play a prominent role in the political and economic life of their countries. The article explores the evolving attitudes of Latin American Palestinians towards the issue of Palestinian statehood. It shows the growing involvement of these communities in Palestinian affairs and their contribution in recent years towards the wide recognition of Palestinian rights — including the right to self-determination and statehood — in Latin America. But the political views of members of these communities also differ considerably about the form and substance of a Palestinian statehood and on the issue of a two-states versus one-state solution.

The Strange Silence of Latin American Political Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992110233
Author(s):  
Cristian Pérez-Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Editorial Boards ◽  
Latin America And Caribbean ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

Political theorists affiliated with Latin American and Caribbean academic institutions rarely publish in flagship journals or other important outlets of the discipline. Similarly, they are not members of the editorial boards of high-ranking, generalist or subfield journals, and their research is not included in the political theory canon of what students from other regions study. The aim of this article is not to explain the origins of this silence—though some possibilities are considered—but to describe some of the ways in which it manifests and why it matters. I argue that the exclusion or omission of Latin American and Caribbean voices is a negative outcome not only for Latin American and Caribbean political theorist but for the political theory subfield at large. In response, I defend a context-sensitive approach to political theory, which has the potential to provide greater voice to Latin American and Caribbean scholars while improving theoretical analysis of Latin America and Caribbean.

scholarly journals The theory of peripheral capitalism: on the applicability of the Latin American model to the Baltic States. An attempt at an inter-disciplinary analysis

Baltic Region ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-117
Author(s):  
I. A. Maksimtsev ◽  
N. M. Mezhevich ◽  
N. P. Sirota
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Systemic Analysis ◽  
American Model ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
The Baltic

The relevance of this study of post-Soviet transition lies in the focus on the technically theoretical problems that are nevertheless the key to understanding regional development processes in the East of the Baltic Sea. The research aims to verify the theory of peripheral capitalism as applied to the Baltic States. The first theoretical objective is to draw a distinction between the ideas of modernisation and transformation in a regional context. The second objective is to adjust the theory of peripheral capitalism to smaller states. To study the features of the transformation of economic and political systems in the Baltics, this article conducts comparative analysis. Systemic analysis and the principles of theoretical and empirical analysis are used as well. Building on this work, the study identifies the deficiencies of the theoretical and methodological potential of transition studies. These include claims that the theoretical and methodological potential of transition as applied to post-Socialist and post-Soviet Europe has been completely fulfilled. Geographical differences between Latin America and the Baltic States are so obvious that they eclipse economic similarities between the processes and development models characteristic of the two regions of the world. An analysis of current developments in Latin America makes it possible to forecast the economic and, to a degree, political consequences of the trends that are just emerging in the Baltics. This article seeks to prove the above thesis.

scholarly journals A APLICAÇÃO DO CONCEITO DE POPULISMO À AMÉRICA LATINA: pela necessidade de classificar, e não desqualificar

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
João Carlos Amoroso Botelho
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
The Past ◽  
De Se ◽  
The Subject ◽  
America Latina

Desde que autores como Germani (1962), Di Tella (1969) e Ianni (1975) aplicaram a noção de populismo à América Latina, muito se escreveu sobre o tema. O conceito se estirou tanto que tem servido para definir políticos os mais díspares. Com a ausência das condições socioeconômicas descritas pelas formulações clássicas, a estratégia adotada é limitar a categoria à dimensão política. Esse procedimento, porém, não é capaz de descrever atributos exclusivos suficientes para que o populismo seja um fenômeno específico. Ao mesmo tempo, o conceito está tão enraizado que não é viável abandoná-lo. A solução proposta é avaliar em quais características um político se aproxima e se afasta dos casos paradigmáticos do passado. Assim, ele pode ser populista em certos aspectos e não em outros. Com esse procedimento, se chega a uma classificação, em que um líder apresente mais ou menos atributos descritos pelas definições clássicas, eliminando a necessidade de reformulação constante do conceito para adaptá-lo a novas circunstâncias. Também haveria menos espaço a que o rótulo de populista continuasse servindo para desqualificar políticos latino-americanos. O artigo aborda definições clássicas e recentes aplicadas à América Latina e avalia a viabilidade empírica da estratégia de se concentrar na dimensão política.---LA APLICACIÓN DEL CONCEPTO DE POPULISMO AMÉRICA LATINA: la necesidad de clasificar, y no descalificar Desde que autores como Germani (1962), Di Tella (1969) y Ianni (1975) aplicaron la noción de populismo a la América Latina, mucho se ha escrito sobre el tema. El concepto se ha estirado tanto que ha definido políticos muy dispares. Con la ausencia de las condiciones socioeconómicas descritas por las formulaciones clásicas, la estrategia adoptada es concentrarse en la dimensión política. Ese procedimiento, sin embargo, no es capaz de describir atributos exclusivos suficientes para que el populismo sea un fenómeno específico. Al mismo tiempo, el concepto está tan enraizado que no es viable abandonarlo. La solución propuesta es evaluar en cuales características un político se acerca y se aleja de los casos paradigmáticos del pasado. Así, ello puede ser populista en ciertos aspectos y no en otros. Con ese procedimiento, se llega a una clasificación, en que un líder presente más o menos atributos descritos por las definiciones clásicas, eliminando la necesidad de reformulación constante del concepto. También habría menos espacio a que el rótulo de populista continuase sirviendo para descalificar políticos latinoamericanos. El artículo presenta definiciones clásicas y recientes aplicadas a la América Latina y discute la viabilidad empírica de la estrategia de concentrarse en la dimensión política.Palabras-clave: populismo; América Latina; casos paradigmáticos; clasificación.---THE APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF POPULISM IN LATIN AMERICA: the need to classify and not disqualifyEver since authors such as Germani (1962), Di Tella (1969) and Ianni (1975) applied the notion of populism in Latin America, much has been written on the subject. The concept stretched out so much that it has served to define the most dissimilar politicians. In the absence of socioeconomic conditions described by classical formulations, the strategy adopted is to restrict the category to the political dimension. Such a procedure, however, is not capable of describing adequate particular attributes that populism would be a specific phenomenon. At the same time, the concept is so deeply embedded in our society that it is not feasible to abandon it. The proposed solution is to evaluate in which characteristics a politician reaches and moves away from the paradigmatic cases of the past. Thus, it can be populist in some respects and not in others. In such a procedure, we arrive at a classification in which a leader shows more or less attributes described by classical definitions, eliminating the need for constant reformulation of the concept to adapt it to new circumstances. Also, there would be less space to which the label of populist would continue to serve to disqualify Latin American politicians. The article discusses recent and classic settings applied to Latin America and assesses the empirical viability of focusing on the political dimension strategy.Key words: populism; Latin America; paradigmatic cases; classification.

scholarly journals Crystallography and the IYCr2014 in Uruguay and Latin America

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1288-C1288
Author(s):  
Leopoldo Suescun
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Synchrotron Light ◽  
The Uk ◽  
People Group ◽  
Research Equipment

X-ray Crystallography has been present in Uruguay since the 50's. A project funded by UNESCO brought Prof. S. Furberg to Montevideo and introduced equipment in a laboratory of Universidad de la República, Facultad de Ingeniería where Prof. Stephenson Caticha Ellis worked.[1] During the period 1968-1995 the political and economic situation of the country reduced research in general and crystallography in particular, re-emerging in the late 90's with the acquisition of an automatic single-crystal diffractometer by Facultad de Química. After the opening of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory in 1997 several projects in crystallography have also developed with the successful realization of half a dozen postgraduate projects. Currently there are chemical, biological and physical crystallography labs in the country, with a reduced but sufficient pool of research equipment. The main institutions where Crystallography is developed are Universidad de la República (3 groups) and the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo. There has been an explosive growth of crystallography in the country in recent years. From the 4-people group found at F. de Química in 2000 to over 50 people of the Red Uruguaya de Cristalografía recently founded.[2] This development wouldn't have happened without the strong influence of Latin American crystallographers, mainly but not only from Argentina and Brazil, and also collaboration from extra-regional colleagues from USA, the UK, France and Switzerland. Very recently additional impulse has come from Latin America with the formation of the Latin American Cryst. Assoc. LACA[3]. Uruguayan crystallographers are currently involved in dissemination and academic projects for IYCr2014 such as an open-sky photo-gallery in Montevideo, a national crystal growth competition, a protein crystallography school and two UNESCO/IUCr OpenLab Type 1 sponsored by Bruker. A description of on-going projects in Uruguay and the region will be outlined in the presentation

The Third Wave: Islamization of Europe, or Europanization of Islam?

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-136
Author(s):  
Maurits S. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
The Real ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
The Third ◽  
European Values ◽  
Made In

Abstract To understand the concerns and issues related to Muslims and Islam in Europe, this article makes use of a framework that qualifies ‘Islam’ as two manifestations of ‘physical’ and ‘virtual’ Islam and ‘Europe’ as two discourses defined as the political-legal and cultural-religious discourse. The resulting matrix of these four dimensions will be applied to several of the main issues of the interaction between Islam and Europe: the numerical presence of Muslims, their visibility, the legacy of centuries of European-Islamic interaction, and the (in)compatibility of Islamic and European values. Based on these examples, the author observes that the European concerns regarding ‘Islam’ mostly relate to virtual Islam and are dominated by cultural-religious discourse. The author therefore questions the often-heard two-choice question between ‘Europanization of Islam’ or ‘Islamization of Europe’, arguing that the real choice to be made in Europe is whether it will adhere to its political-legal values, such as liberalism, equalit and human rights, or will prefer its cultural-religious values.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document