Labor Unions and Voter Turnout in the American States: Direct Versus Indirect Mobilization

I examine the relationship between labor unions and voter turnout in the American states. Though it is well known that unions increase turnout directly, we know less about their indirect effects. Moreover, the indirect effects may consist of nonmember mobilization and aggregate strength. To examine the direct and indirect mechanisms, I analyze both state-level panel data and individual-level data with a multilevel approach. First, my panel analysis shows that unions are positively associated with turnout as expected. Yet, the association is observed only in midterm elections, but not in presidential elections. Second, more importantly, my individual-level analysis suggests that indirect nonmember mobilization and indirect aggregate strength are positively related to turnout, while direct member mobilization is not. The findings imply that the direct effects are limited and, thus, that decreasing levels of voter turnout due to recently declining union membership come primarily from indirect mobilization rather than direct mobilization.

Partisan Strategy and the Adoption of Same-Day Registration in the American States

This study seeks to explain state adoptions of same-day registration (SDR), with a focus on determining whether the Democratic (Republican) Party’s support of (resistance to) this impactful voting reform is driven by strategic electoral considerations. I find that states have an increased probability of enacting the reform when legislative Democrats are in the precarious position that comes with having just experienced minority status in one or both chambers. Relatedly, I demonstrate that the presence of a Republican legislature does not make adoption less likely until the size of the Black population reaches a certain threshold. In fact, provided the Black population is small enough, Republican control of the legislature encourages reform. The results offer conflicting evidence, however, that large Latino populations deter the GOP from establishing SDR. Considered together, the results cast doubt on the claim that either party’s position is informed by principle alone.

Universal Mail Ballot Delivery Boosts Turnout: The Causal Effects of Sending Mail Ballots to All Registered Voters

Some American states have transitioned to universal voting-by-mail, where all registered voters receive a ballot in the mail. While this practice was growing in popularity prior to the 2020 general election, universal voting-by-mail was suddenly used in a larger number of states due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we utilize a unique situation in which registered voters in some legislative districts in Los Angeles County were subjected to universal voting-by-mail in the March 2020 primary, while most of the rest of the Los Angeles County electorate was not. Using difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity designs, we estimate the causal effects of universal voting-by-mail on voter turnout and on who votes. Our results indicate that voter turnout increased by around 3\% for voters who do not automatically receive a ballot in the mail otherwise, and the increase is larger for registered partisan voters than those without a party affiliation.

Cold War Relations between Hungary and Brazil from a Semi-Peripheral Perspective (1960–1980)

During the Cold War, searching for trade benefits and opportunities of diversification motivated the Hungarian government and certain Latin American countries to build economic ties, especially between 1960 and 1980. Economic globalization as an external and state-led industrialization as an internal factor served as motivations to build links between command economy Hungary and “capitalist” Latin American states. The article focuses on relations between Hungary and Brazil, emphasizing their similar, semi-peripheral position in world economy that led to the perception of each other as dependent economies on the superpowers (the Soviet Union and the United States, respectively) attempting to loosen these ties instead of an ‘ideological rival.’

On sovereign bonds and marijuana: Comparing supremacy limits in the US and the EU

Against the background of the PSPP judgement, the article conducts an under-researched comparison of the German Court's recent judgement with incidents of defiance from American states’ legislatures. Particularly, it highlights the example of marijuana laws in the US where a handful of states managed to legislate de facto governing norms contrary to the federal ones. The article then examines the German Court's last decision on sovereign bonds to compare the underlying factors that facilitates European judicial defiance with those contributing to occasional state legislator resistance in the US. Comparison to the highly centralized US shows that defiance of supremacy cannot be eliminated, but its conducive factors can be controlled to ensure a functioning constitutional system. To do so, attention must be paid to popular, fiscal and political factors, rather than to exclusively legalistic ones.

A evolução da efetividade da proteção interamericana dos direitos fundamentais e humanos

A CIDH (Comissão Interamericana de Direitos Humanos) é um órgão principal e autônomo da Organização dos Estados Americanos (OEA) encarregado da promoção e proteção dos direitos humanos no continente americano. A Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos é uma instituição judiciária autônoma cujo objetivo é a aplicação e a interpretação da Convenção Americana sobre Direitos Humanos. Nesse contexto, este artigo propõe-se a (1) descrever o funcionamento do sistema continental de proteção aos direitos humanos; (2) examinar a efetividade das recomendações e decisões emitidas por seus dois principais órgãos, a Comissão e a Corte de Direitos Humanos, e seu impacto no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro. The CIDI (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) charged with the promotion and protection of human rights in the Americas. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution whose objective is the application and interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights. In this context, this article proposes to (1) describe the functioning of the continental system for the protection of human rights; (2) examine the effectiveness of the recommendations and decisions issued by its two main bodies, the Commission and the Court of Human Rights, and their impact on the Brazilian legal system.

FOREIGN POLICY OF PEDRO SÁNCHEZ: ONE YEAR ON

The article analyzes the foreign policy of Spain, as well as the foreign policy strategy (2021–2024), adopted in early 2021, a year after Pedro Sánchez took office as chairman of the coalition government. The appearance of this document took place against the backdrop of the inauguration of the new US President Joe Biden. P. Sánchez’s government expressed the hope that Spain and the EU will be able to improve relations with the United States in various spheres of activity. The new foreign policy strategy was influenced by the global financial and economic crisis provoked by the development of the coronavirus pandemic. In the summer of 2021, another important event for Spanish foreign policy took place. Jose Manuel Albarez was appointed to the post of Foreign Minister, who replaced Arancha Gonzalez Lai. The author comes to the conclusion that relations with Morocco are traditionally important for the foreign policy of Spain. Latin America will play an important role in the new strategy. The place of Spain in the establishment of a dialogue between the EU and Latin American states was especially marked.

The Struggle of Indigenous Peoples to Maintain Their Spirituality in Latin America: Freedom of and from Religion(s), and Other Threats

This article argues that the (Western-oriented) right to religion has been proven inadequate in protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It recognizes that this is partly because of the distinctive characteristics of Indigenous religions, which differ from other dominant religions, but also because of the way in which religion has been used by colonialism with dramatic effects on Indigenous Peoples and their beliefs, spiritualities, and worldviews. The article focuses on Latin America to argue further that in addition to colonialism, the early Constitutions also attacked Indigenous religions. As Indigenous rights are more acknowledged in Latin America, we take this region as an excellent, albeit painful, example of how Indigenous religions have been pushed aside even in the most positive contexts. The article uses the constitutional and legal arrangements in Latin American states, mainly Ecuador and Bolivia, to critically assess the protection that these favorable to Indigenous Peoples legal systems’ guarantee to Indigenous rights despite a persistent implementation gap. Also, this article highlights the weaknesses of the international system in mitigating the manifold threats that Indigenous Peoples have to face on a daily basis in their struggle to maintain and transmit their religions and spirituality, including the assault of other religions and sects into their communities and the so-called neo-extractivism. The article finally draws some concluding remarks and recommendations on how to improve the freedom of and violations from religion(s) of Indigenous Peoples in the context of Latin America as well as international law more broadly.