The Religious Factor in the Contemporary Political Discourse of Latin America

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Marianna G. Abramova
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actor ◽  
Religious Factor ◽  
The Given ◽  
Latin American Countries

The 21st century is rightfully referred to as the post-secular period: the rebirth of religion can be seen practically everywhere. Latin America is no exception. Here, the evangelists (namely, neo-Pentecostals) are expanding their influence on an ever greater scale. The given paper examines the causes of this phenomenon; it also analyzes the theological concepts of neo-Pentecostals. The author arrives at the conclusion that neo-Pentecostals are becoming the most important political actor in all Latin American countries since they now represent the newly crystallizing moral needs of the population, now more than displeased with the liberal gender agenda. The author defines three models of neo – Pentecostals participation in the political life in various Latin American countries.

The Political Sociology of 21st-Century Populism in Latin America: A Critique of the Ecuadorian Case

2021 ◽  
pp. 089692052110322
Author(s):  
Jorge Daniel Vásquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Historical Contextualization ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Universal Application

This paper calls into question the universal application of the concept of populism. It points to how particular historical processes need to be taken into account when addressing the formation of populism in Latin American countries. Unlike more theorized cases as Argentinian or Mexican populism, I use the Ecuadorian case to show how critical historical contextualization of 21st-century populism requires analyzing the continuities and ruptures with sociological knowledge about a particular populism. Such an analysis of continuities and ruptures shows the theoretical convergences among Latin America as a region and the political dynamics of specific historical processes. I highlight how the conceptions of 21st-century Ecuadorian populism as a “passive revolution” or “authoritarian disfigurement of democracy” provide some theoretical tools for examining the historical process of Ecuadorian populism but ultimately fall short of critical analysis. In conclusion, I derived from the Ecuadorian case some elements for the analysis of Latin American populist projects.

Latin-American Political Parties and Ideologies: An Overview

1967 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-86
Author(s):  
Donald W. Bray
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Latin American Countries

In a majority of Latin-American countries the coup d'etat rather than the ballot is still the institutionalized mechanism for transferring political power. Some states, like Haiti and Paraguay, are clearly in the “prehistory” of modern political parties. Nevertheless, in the twentieth century the political party with a developed ideology has become a major feature of Latin-American political life.

scholarly journals Political Institutions and Street Protests in Latin America

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana Machado ◽  
Carlos Scartascini ◽  
Mariano Tommasi
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Latin American Countries

In this article, the authors argue that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. The authors explore this relationship empirically by combining country-level measures of institutional strength with individual-level information on protest participation in seventeen Latin American countries. The authors find evidence that weaker political institutions are associated with a higher propensity to use alternative means for expressing preferences, that is, to protest.

scholarly journals Dollars for Pesos? The Political-Economy of Dollarization in Latin America

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-81
Author(s):  
PAMELA K. STARR
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Stable Growth ◽  
Latin American Countries

ABSTRACT The capacity of dollarization to generate stable growth in Latin America despite occasional instability in the international financial system has been the subject of significant economic analysis in recent years. Yet very little attention has been afforded to the politics of the issue. This paper attempts to fill this void by looking at both the political and the economic factors which influence the policy effectiveness of dollarization. The paper reviews the theoretic and policy debate within which the dollarization question is situated and then develops an informal model of the political and economic variables which influence the viability of dollarization. It concludes that although dollarization may be the correct policy choice for some Latin American countries, it is unlikely to benefit the majority. Most Latin American countries would benefit more from directly addressing the forces know to promote economic instability.

A Different Kind of Investor?

2014 ◽  
pp. 417-433
Author(s):  
Gayle Allard
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Regional Economies ◽  
Resource Intensity ◽  
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Latin American Countries

After decades of limited contact, China's influence in Latin America has soared in the early part of the 21st century. China's presence in Latin America holds potential for transforming regional economies in positive and negative ways. This chapter describes Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Latin America, explores its implications, and tests whether Chinese FDI differs from global FDI in Latin America regarding corruption and resource intensity. It finds that Chinese FDI is more closely associated with countries that are more resource-abundant and are ranked as more corrupt. This could have negative implications for Latin American countries and their development as China expands.

Latin America: Results of Electoral Cycle

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
E. Dabagyan
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Primary Interest ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Latin American Countries

The article examines a range of forces represented in the political arena of the Latin American countries that recently held general election (Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador). A primary interest is paid to the left radicals, the left centrists, the centrists and the right centrists. While assessing the outcome of the elections the author underlines the trend towards convergence of left and right centrists. This is creating opportunities for their cooperation. Simultaneously, there is a compression of space for the interaction of these political forces with the left radicals.

Party Systems and Redistribution in Democratic Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Mauro
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Over Time

A redistributive wave across Latin America provided credence to existing explanations that emphasize the importance of democracy and the political left for democratic redistribution. Yet, neither of these theories tells the entire story behind the contemporary politics of inequality in Latin America. This article stresses the importance of party systems for democratic redistribution, especially their role in increasing the scope of social policy as well as igniting competitive electoral environments that incentivize political elites to redistribute, leading to the amelioration of inequality over time. Utilizing a time-series cross-sectional dataset on fifteen Latin American countries covering the period of 1990–2015, and extending the analysis to sixty-five global democracies, this article finds that countries with institutionalized party systems exhibit greater income redistribution and lower levels of inequality than those with inchoate counterparts.

Foreign Direct Investment and Its Politics in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Douglas Hecock
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
National Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Latin American Countries

The open economic policies Latin American countries adopted in the wake of the debt crisis of the early 1980s were expected to bring a variety of benefits. Trade liberalization and privatization make domestic firms more competitive, and deregulation helps to create an efficient business climate. Notably, such policies are also likely to spur foreign investment seeking new opportunities, and Latin American countries did indeed begin to see large inflows in the 1990s. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is thought to be particularly complementary to economic development. Compared to portfolio investment in stocks and bonds, FDI consists of the construction or purchasing of physical assets including manufacturing facilities, retail outlets, hotels, and mines. FDI should spur local economic activity and bring with it jobs and technology transfers. Furthermore, because divestment takes planning and time, direct investment is relatively long-term, so investors are expected to display greater commitments to the economic and political futures of their hosts. As a result of these substantial potential benefits, a body of scholarship has emerged to try to understand the political dynamics of FDI. Is investment more likely to flow to democratic or authoritarian regimes? Are direct investors seeking countries with few labor protections and weak environmental regulations or are they attracted to public investments in human capital? Do they eschew governments with poor human rights records or do they see abusers as potential partners in managing a compliant workforce? What are the effects of FDI flows on the political contexts of their hosts? Among others, these questions have received significant scholarly attention, and while we have learned a great deal about the behavior and effects of FDI, considerable potential remains. Having received massive inflows averaging more than $100 billion between 2000 and 2017 and consisting of countries with broadly similar development trajectories, Latin America offers a rich landscape for such analysis. In particular, finer-grained examinations of FDI to Latin American countries can help us understand how it might affect political systems and which types of investment best complement national development projects. In so doing, studies of FDI flows to Latin America are poised to make major contributions to the fields of international political economy, development studies, and comparative politics.

scholarly journals Narrativa populista en el pensamiento político de Evo Morales y Nicolás Maduro

2020 ◽  
pp. 127-148
Author(s):  
Michał Zbigniew Dankowski ◽  
Marta Jurgielewicz
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Latin American Countries

The beginning of the 21st century brought an increase in the importance of populist politicians in some Latin American countries. The most important representatives of contemporary Latin American populism are Evo Morales from Bolivia and Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela. The narrative used in their speeches determines the political doctrine of both presidents. Various quotes from the examined discourses, then assigned to the presented linguistic characteristics, leave no doubt that the narrative fits with populist ideas.

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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