scholarly journals Poverty and Inequality in Mexico after NAFTA: Challenges, Setbacks and Implications

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
pp. 73-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Alvarado

This article analyzes the progress obtained in diminishing poverty and inequality in Mexico during the post-NAFTA years ranging from 1994 to 2007, and how it pertains to the broad critical debate surrounding poverty-gap reduction in the context of regional and international economic integration and trade liberalization. Specifically, the article discusses the evolution of Mexican rural and urban poverty, income and regional disparities, as well as the role of government spending after the enactment of NAFTA and within the framework of economic liberalization marked by expanded international trade and investment, particularly with the United States.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-96
Author(s):  
Daniel Fudge

Government, through the provision of public services, plays an integral role in the lives of American citizens.  In consequence, public opinion of government involvement has been consistently measured through the use of national surveys in order to better evaluate the public’s reaction to specific public policies.  While measuring of aggregate public opinions on government involvement is valuable, there are certainly differences across various groups of Americans.  The United States may be divided when it comes to partisanship and ideology, but perhaps there are also significant divisions between Americans based on their geography, or “place”.  Using data from the American National Election Survey from 1994-2008, this study examines the differences in opinion on government spending towards public services, welfare programs, and Social Security.  Rooted in the idea that different “places” harbor varying degrees of support for the government, I hypothesize that the role of government is viewed differently between urban and rural America, further demonstrating that America experiences an urban-rural division in regard to perceptions of American politics.  The findings demonstrate that ideology drives Americans’ support for these specific policies and that “place” can serve as a conditioning effect on the standard ideological view.  Specifically, liberals living in rural areas are less supportive of government spending than their liberal counterparts living in more urban areas.  Additionally, rural liberals are less supportive of welfare spending; however, are more supportive of Social Security than liberals from urban areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kodoati N. Christi ◽  
Treesje Runtu ◽  
Stanley Kho Walandouw

Through the implementation of law No.28 of 2009 on local taxes and lavies, the tax collection authority of the land tax and rural and urban buildings (PBB-P2) is transferred to the local government. North Minahasa district government in this case Watutumou Village is one of the villages that have potentials in the local tax sector can maximize this policy as an effort to increase acceptance in realizing development in the region. This study aims to  determine the level of effectiveness of Land and Building Tax revenues before and after diverted into local taxes in Watutumou Village, the effort made by the village government to overcome the obstacles that arise in the process of acceptance of PBB-P2 and how the role of village government in optimizing the acceptance of PBB-P2. This study used descriptive quantitative method. The collection of data in this case is interview and documentation. The result of the research note that the effectiveness of PBB-P2 before and after deverted into the criteria effective. But in the year before and after diverted, the realization of PBB-P2 didn’t reach the target specified due to certain obstacles, so it requires the effort and role of government in increasing the acceptance of PBB-P2. For the village government can further improve the acceptance of PBB-P2 with attention to human resource training, socialization and up to date data available in the village.Keywords : PBB-P2, effectiveness, village government


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 882-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Tabani Mpofu

This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a composite statistic used to rank countries by the level of “human development”. Measuring and determining what is QoL is not an easy task. In this study, using HDI as the yardstick for QoL, the concepts of standard of living and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. This research question was seen as the key to addressing the phenomenon of QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure of South Africa for the period 1995 to 2011, the relationships amongst these variables were examined. The findings indicate that there seems to be a significant correlation between HDI and government spending on health and education as a percentage of GDP, but there seems to be of no significance to include the variable government spending on health and education as a percentage of total government spending. The findings tell us that between 1995 and 2011, government spending on education as a percentage of GDP has had a positive impact on HDI. However, government spending on health as a percentage of GDP has had a retarding effect as shown by the negative coefficient of variation. It then implies that for South Africa to realize the MDG goals and improve on the HDI, public spending on health as a percentage of GDP needs to be significantly increased.


Author(s):  
Holly M. Mikkelson

This chapter traces the development of the medical interpreting profession in the United States as a case study. It begins with the conception of interpreters as volunteer helpers or dual-role medical professionals who happened to have some knowledge of languages other than English. Then it examines the emergence of training programs for medical interpreters, incipient efforts to impose standards by means of certification tests, the role of government in providing language access in health care, and the beginning of a labor market for paid medical interpreters. The chapter concludes with a description of the current situation of professional medical interpreting in the United States, in terms of training, certification and the labor market, and makes recommendations for further development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1047-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sainsbury

Abstract New theories of economic growth that are policy-relevant and connect with the histories of success and failure in economic development are urgently needed. This article compares the neoclassical (or market efficiency) school of thought with the production-capability school of thought which included Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List, and Joseph Schumpeter. Many affirmative, industrial policy steps by governments to promote economic development have been historically recorded—including in the UK and the United States. Meanwhile the neoclassical school has ignored the role of government in helping to create competitive advantage. It has also chosen to ignore how firms are formed, how technologies are acquired, and how industries emerge. The dynamic capability theory of economic growth developed here assigns the central role in economic growth to firms but also an important role to governments. The rate at which a country’s economy grows depends critically on whether its firms can build the capabilities to generate and take advantage of “windows of opportunity” that exist for innovation and new markets, and whether over time they are able to enhance their capabilities to move into higher value-added activities.1


1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-142
Author(s):  
Robert G. Craig ◽  
Harry P. Mapp

“There is more than enough evidence to show that the states and localities, far from being weak sisters, have actually been carrying the brunt of domestic governmental progress in the United States ever since the end of World War II … Moreover, they have been largely responsible for undertaking the truly revolutionary change in the role of government in the United States that has occurred over the past decade.”–Daniel J. Elazar, The Public Interest


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren E. Miller ◽  
J. Merrill Shanks

As the Reagan administration neared the end of its first full year in office, interpretations of the meaning of the 1980 presidential election were still as varied as the political positions of analysts and commentators. The politically dominant interpretation, promoted by the new administration and its supporters, was that the election provided a mandate to bring about several fundamental changes in the role of government in American social and economic life. In recommendations whose scope had not been matched since the first days of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the Reagan administration set about responding to what it understood to be popular demands for reduced government spending and taxes, expansion of the national defence establishment, limitation of environmental protection in favour of the development of energy resources, and a myriad of other tasks designed to encourage free enterprise by ‘getting government off the backs of the people’. With varying degrees of enthusiasm for the new administration's programmes, scores of Democratic politicians shared the interpretation of Reagan's victory as a new electoral mandate which rejected many of the fundamental policies of Democratic administrations from Roosevelt to Carter. This interpretation of the ‘meaning’ of the 1980 election was expressed by Democratic congressmen of many political colours who decried the bankruptcy of their own leadership and affirmed the victor's sense of mandate by supporting the President's various legislative programmes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy J. Cooke

From 1862 to 1923, congressional seed distribution was among the most important functions of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). One of the largest agricultural programs in the late nineteenth century, the practice itself stayed in place until 1923. The subject of little historical research, the seed distribution project is usually viewed as a failure of the scientific agricultural establishment, or as vote mongering by Congress, and its demise as the simple culmination of Progressive Era reform. However, this episode in American history reveals much more than debates over science and agriculture by highlighting the many cultural, economic, scientific, and political questions about the proper role of government in a democracy. By examining heated contemporary political exchanges and published critiques, this article assesses what different constituencies viewed as good in government as they argued for or against free seed distribution, even as the USDA used seed as a vehicle for consolidating the place of science and knowledge in agriculture and in government.


Significance A new justice has the potential to change the tenor of the Supreme Court's rulings significantly for many years to come, on issues including the scope of federal regulation, campaign finance and the federal government's powers. Scalia was a vocal political and judicial conservative, and the upcoming political fight to appoint his successor will reflect the broader conservative-progressive debate about civil liberties, the scope of the Constitution and the role of government in society. Impacts The Obama administration is likely to see many of its administrative actions upheld, at least until his term ends next January. An open Supreme Court seat may boost turnout by conservative Republican voters worried about a moderate or liberal appointment. Appointment politics and numerous federal vacancies are likely to persist as a feature of divided government in the United States.


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