scholarly journals Latin America: Presidential Power and the Opposition in the Twenty-first Century

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-184
Author(s):  
N. M. YAKOVLEVA
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Control Functions ◽  
Institutional Instability ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Heads Of State

At the end of 2017 Latin America has entered the electoral super  cycle, which runs until the end of 2019. In the region will take place  the elections of all levels: presidential, legislative, local, as well as referendums. The countries covered by the electoral race, provide  80 per cent of regional GDP, ballot will involve about 2/3 of  the voters in the region. Fourteen Heads of State will be elected in  the countries with a presidential form of Government. Elections are  held in an atmosphere of political instability, discredit of the power  structures, the degradation of the ruling elites, fragmentation of  party systems, volatility of the preferences of the electorate. In the  region, there are strong antielite moods, a slowdown of democratic  processes, and the low level of support for democracy. This article  analyzes the reasons for this situation. Considerable attention is paid to the characterization of the political systems prevailing in the  countries of the region and focuses on the evolution of the institute  of Presidency in the 21st century, the causes of the emergence of a  new leadership and the formation of regimes of personified  authorities. The author is of the opinion that the imbalances of  presidential systems laid down in the regulatory and legislative  framework, contribute to the consolidation of different models of  ideological personification colors and offer opportunities for  concentrating power in the hands of the head of State. Hyper power  of the Presidents and the weakening of the control functions of  parliaments contributed to the flourishing of corruption that has  taken epidemic proportions in recent years and among the highest  echelons of almost all countries. Corruption scandals in turn cause  presidential resignations and impeachments, lead to institutional instability. The fight against corruption becomes the  main leitmotif of election campaigns. The article presents the results of the election campaigns of 2015-2017, traces the  dependence of electoral preferences of the population of the region  from the situation in the economy and the social conditions, and  underlines the special role of the new middle class in the political  life. It is argued that Latin America is on the threshold of the  emblematic changes but to predict election results and the nature of  future change is not possible.

Women in Power and Decision making Positions : Conditions and Restraints

1970 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Azza Charara Baydoun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Slow Progress

Women today are considered to be outside the political and administrative power structures and their participation in the decision-making process is non-existent. As far as their participation in the political life is concerned they are still on the margins. The existence of patriarchal society in Lebanon as well as the absence of governmental policies and procedures that aim at helping women and enhancing their political participation has made it very difficult for women to be accepted as leaders and to be granted votes in elections (UNIFEM, 2002).This above quote is taken from a report that was prepared to assess the progress made regarding the status of Lebanese women both on the social and governmental levels in light of the Beijing Platform for Action – the name given to the provisions of the Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The above quote describes the slow progress achieved by Lebanese women in view of the ambitious goal that requires that the proportion of women occupying administrative or political positions in Lebanon should reach 30 percent of thetotal by the year 2005!

scholarly journals Investigation the need to teach the characteristics of the development of parliamentarism in Latin America as part of education

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (SPE3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Larisa Lvovna Norden
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Party System ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Intensity Increase ◽  
Island States ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
The One

The article highlights the history and features of parliamentarism development in the Latin America countries. In addition, the need for training on the subject and the effect of increasing students and educators’ awareness in this field is examined. This process was lengthy, replete with the examples of various social groups, political trends and parties struggle intensity increase. Since the beginning of the 19th century, there have been almost no favorable conditions for the practical implementation of democratic government in the countries of Latin America, and the institutionalization of the party system has not taken place yet. However, there have been exceptions to the general rule in the history of Latin America. Chile and Argentina were such an example. The success of democratic transformations in the countries of the region depended on various reasons: a) whether the country had a democratic experience in its past; b) the conditions for the political and economic development of this country to develop representative institutions in the future; c) the importance of the parties in the political course development and the adoption of state decisions. The results of democracy and parliamentarism development in the states of Latin America are rather complicated by the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. On the one hand, the last decades of the XX-th century and the beginning of this century was marked by the democratization of political life, reforms, and the replacement of military regimes with civilian governments. Since the beginning of the 60-ies, they started the process of democratization and formation of independent island states in the Caribbean and Central America. Despite the successful development of the economy, culture, education, the presence of a large middle class in Argentina, the military governments overcame civilian ones in the 30-70-ies. Therefore, it is needed to consider this aspect as a part of education system to improve the educators’ level.

scholarly journals PATRIOTIC VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN'S YOUTH

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-141
Author(s):  
V.H. Nabiyev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political System ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Special Role ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
People Today

The article examines the problem of patriotism, which plays a special role in the political life of modern Kazakhstan. In fact, in all over the world, young people today are in very difficult socio- economic and political conditions, when their entry into life is accompanied by changing and peculiar processes of change not only political system or economic mechanisms of management. The change in the system of spiritual and moral values, guidelines and ideals of all citizens, especially young people, is impressive.

The Political Economy of Import-Substituting Industrialization in Latin America

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert O. Hirschman
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Growing Pains ◽  
Late Industrializing

This chapter surveys some characteristics of “import-substituting industrialization” in an attempt to appraise its evolution and the principal difficulties it has encountered. Some purely economic aspects of the problem are discussed, but particular attention is directed to interrelations with social and political life, as industrialization—one of the principal solutions for Latin America's development—has led to some feelings of disenchantment. It becomes necessary here to have a clear-eyed view of what “late-late” industrializing is; instead of exhaustion, this chapter posits that Latin Americans are confronted with the growing pains of having industrialized without an industrial revolution (basic social and political changes).

scholarly journals Max Weber’s Analysis of Plebiscitary Leadership and the Debate on Multiple Modernities

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
M.V. Maslovskiy ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Multiple Modernities ◽  
Sociological Tradition ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

The article considers Max Weber’s model of plebiscitary leadership and historical examples of plebiscitary democracy. It is argued that there is no clear distinction between plebiscitary democracy and dictatorship inWeber’s writings. As Stefan Breuer demonstrates, such a distinction allows us to broaden the application of Weberian concepts. Plebiscitary elements can be seen in the political life of non-Western states, which have been discussed from the multiple modernities perspective. However, while that perspective develops the Weberian sociological tradition, its representatives mostly do not use the concept of plebiscitary leadership. Thus, Shmuel Eisenstadt draws primarily on Weber’s sociology of religion in his analysis of different types of modernity. Specifically, Eisenstadt considers the impact of civilizational legacies on political processes in India and Latin America. Peter Wagner discusses the relevance of Weber’s rationalization thesis and theory of capitalism rather than the concepts of Weberian political sociology. In his study of democratization in Brazil and South Africa, Wagner emphasizes the progressive character of political changes but does not consider the possibility of a reversal of these processes. The article argues that the contemporary reconstruction of Weber’s model of plebiscitary leadership can complement the analyses of democratization in non-Western societies from the multiple modernities perspective.

scholarly journals Hinduism in the Socio-Political Life of India

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 106-122
Author(s):  
T. L. Shaumyan
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
National Tradition ◽  
Religious Factor ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
Role Of Religion

The article analyzes the importance of the religious factor in determining the ways of socio-political development of India. India remains a country with a multi-confessional population with a clear predominance of adherents of Hinduism. In addition to the infl uence of Hinduism on the life of orthodox society, where castes still play a special role, which determine the norms of behavior and rules of communication, the author analyzes the role of religion in the political agenda of the country. Under the conditions of colonialism, Hinduism was established as a national religion and the basis of a national tradition. The active involvement of Hinduism in political life began at the end of the nineteenth century, when such political parties as the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha appeared. The task of the latter was to create a Hindu state in India. The author also pays special attention to the analysis of the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is characterized as the political wing of a group of Hindu nationalist organizations. The growing popularity of this party, which won the elections in 2014 and 2019, indicates the strengthening of the positions of communalist organizations. These trends show that the active inclusion of religion in the political agenda aff ects the nature of the country’s democratic institutions, gradually transforming the popular thesis that India is a country representing “unity in diversity”.

scholarly journals Przemiany polityczne na Islandii w warunkach kryzysu bankowego i gospodarczego

2011 ◽  
pp. 14-45
Author(s):  
Joachim Osiński
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Banking Crisis ◽  
Banking System ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Form Of Government

The author begins with a brief description of the essential political institutions of Iceland, as a republic with a parliamentary cabinet form of government and the special role of the president, arguing with the point of views that Iceland should be seen as a state with a semi-presidential form of government. Describing the political situation before the banking crisis, the author underlines the strong position of the Independence Party, which according to the results of the parliamentary elections (elections in 2007), plays a leading role in the "political life" of the state. The author pays attention to the process of oligarchisation in that party and the informal systems of social-network-based links and pathological links between the worlds of politics and business. Growing since the 90s, the dominance of a few family clans, together with the deregulation and privatization of the economy, led to nepotism and lack of accountability on the part of politicians and business representatives. An expansion of the three largest Icelandic banks Landsbanki, Kaupthing and Glitnir, without any significant criticism and state control, has led to a situation where at the end of 2008 their assets were 10-fold greater than the GDP of Iceland. Loss of confidence in the interbank markets after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the U.S., caused inhibition of liquidity and consequently the collapse of these banks, eventually acquired by the state. The most spectacular was the collapse of Icesave - the Internet branch of Landsbanki operating in the UK and the Netherlands. The disintegration of the banking system led to a disintegration of the coalition government. Early elections in April 2009, won by the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement, led to the formation of a center-left government of Prime Minister, Ms J. Sigur?ardóttir. The first major action was the government's reorientation of foreign policy and submitting an application for EU membership, and the subsequent arrangement of the debts after the collapse of these banks, reform of the central bank and banking supervisors, the establishment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the banking crisis and identify those responsible, the appointment of a special Prosecutor investigating violations of law during privatization of the banking sector and the actions taken on the eve of the crisis. The article contains the constitutional and legal analysis of the first and second so-called referendum. on Icesave, conducted after the President vetoed a further act concerning Iceland's agreements with its creditors - the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As a result, residents of Iceland have not agreed to repay debts incurred without any fault on their part and through arrogance, incompetence and greed of the financial elite and the political managers controlling the banking system. This puts into question the country's future membership in the EU. The government, despite the opposition to the proposal made by a vote of no confidence, which fell, still take the difficult decisions associated with the revitalization of the banking system and economy of Iceland and improve its international image.

scholarly journals Evangelicalism as a Political Mobilizer in Latin American Politics and the Reemergence of Conservative Governments

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
Joel Ivan Gonzalez Cedillo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Personal Relation ◽  
Democratic State

Evangelicalism has experienced a rapid increase in Latin America the last four decades at the expense of Catholicism, as believers look for a more personal relation with God, a more practical religious life and detaching from the institutionality the Catholic Church represents. Due to the nature of Evangelicalism, believers started to get involved into the political life of their countries. The author analyses the use of discursive elements of Evangelicalism by conservative parties in Guatemala and Brazil to gain political power. Such phenomenon is reciprocal as Evangelical leaders take advantage of the exposure and reach they will get once conservative politicians gain power. The goal of the author is to visibilize the existing alliance between the Evangelical communities and conservative political parties in Latin America and the effects it has on secular democracies. The author gets to the conclusion that Latin American secular democracies that allow the participation of resourceful religious institutions or individuals in the political life risk the continuation of the secular democratic state

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