Centre-left Government Research Articles

Social Welfare Policy in Post-Transition Chile: Social Democratic or Neoliberal?

Chile’s massive 2019 protests indicate a pronounced discrepancy between the country’s alleged establishment of social democracy and the public’s perception of pervasive inequity. To understand this discrepancy, this analysis evaluates the extent to which Chilean social welfare policy conforms to social democratic norms of promoting solidarity, equity, and universalism. Analysis of poverty reduction, pension, health care, and education policy demonstrates that Chile’s center-left governments succeeded in mitigating some of the more extreme elements of the social welfare policies inherited from the Pinochet regime. However, they failed to reverse their underlying logic, which reinforces stratification and inequity and undermines incentives for the cultivation of solidarity among the working and middle classes. As a result, social welfare policy in Chile continues to resemble the neoliberal welfare regime implemented by the Pinochet dictatorship while the establishment of a social democratic welfare regime remains an aspiration for present and future leftist governments to realize.

The role of the left to the path to a minimum income policy in Italy

ABSTRACT In 2018, Italy became the last of the E.U. member states to introduce a minimum income policy. Our work helps explain why Italy was a laggard in this field by investigating the role the Italian left played, historically, in the evolution of policies to combat poverty. This is a surprisingly neglected topic. We argue that until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Italian left focused on labour-market insiders – that is, full-time core workers – and appeared largely unconcerned about the most vulnerable individuals, the outsiders, thus accepting the lack of policies to combat poverty. The policy status quo, however, dovetailed with a lively debate among left-wing intellectuals and politicians. This debate paved the way for several attempts by left-wing governments in the 1990s to implement a national pilot scheme (called the Reddito Minimo di Inserimento [R.M.I.]) along with local minimum income policies. The electoral success in 2013 of a new populist movement, the Five-star Movement (M.5.s.), campaigning on the flagship project of the Reddito di Cittadinanza (R.d.C.), fuelled the political debate on anti-poverty policies. This electoral ‘threat’ finally convinced the centre-left government under Paolo Gentiloni to establish in 2018 the Reddito di Inclusione, the first minimum income scheme in Italy. Our work demonstrates the importance of political variables, such as the structure and dynamics of party competition, in the fight against poverty. It also highlights the role of the Italian left as a political innovator in this field.

The birth of compulsory middle school in the ethical-civil ideals and social policies of education of Aldo Moro and Luigi Gui

Compulsory middle schooling came into being on Dec. 31, 1962, as one of the last significant acts of the third legislature and bore the signature of a Christian Democratic deputy, Luigi Gui, minister of Education in the fourth Fanfani government. The important measure was then led to implementation during the fourth legislature, when Gui was reappointed to the Education ministry by Aldo Moro, who led the three center-left governments that followed between 1963 and 1968. The article focuses on Aldo Moro’s and Luigi Gui’s contribution to the passage of the law, enhancing the educational and ethical-civil premises underlying their school policies, best defined as “social policies of education”. These perspectives of political action have their ideal roots especially in the period between the Resistance and Reconstruction, passing through the phase of the Constituent Assembly, when the biographies of both Christian Democrat politicians – who were almost the same age – crossed paths. Compulsory middle schooling came into being on Dec. 31, 1962, as one of the last significant acts of the third legislature and bore the signature of a Christian Democratic deputy, Luigi Gui, minister of Education in the fourth Fanfani government. The important measure was then led to implementation during the fourth legislature, when Gui was reappointed to the Education ministry by Aldo Moro, who led the three center-left governments that followed between 1963 and 1968. The article focuses on Aldo Moro's and Luigi Gui's contribution to the passage of the law, enhancing the educational and ethical-civil premises underlying their school policies, best defined as “social policies of education”. These perspectives of political action have their ideal roots especially in the period between the Resistance and Reconstruction, passing through the phase of the Constituent Assembly, when the biographies of both Christian Democrat politicians – who were almost the same age – crossed paths.

Cambios y continuidades en las relaciones laborales en tiempos de retroceso Los casos de Brasil y Colombia

This article analyzes the changes in the labor relations systems in Colombia and Brazil, which, due to their labor structures, inheritance of slave systems and deep regional differences, allow us to analyze the capital-labor contradictions in the context of center and center-left governments in The 21st century. In the case of Brazil, after more than a decade of improvements, the turn to the right has generated serious setbacks in individual and collective labor rights. In the case of Colombia, although with greater continuity in neoliberal policies, the shift to the center gave a democratic space for conflict resolution, which closed with the election of a government of the extreme right. In a context of worsening labor conflicts, the reinvention of unions is key to ensure that there are no more losses in terms of labor rights and to press for a new cycle of changes in the face of the possibility of a new political turn to the left in The horizon.

The Italian Liberal Party and the crisis of the First Republic. A long-term analysis (1968-1994)

ABSTRACT The relationship between P.L.I. and the collapse of the party system in Italy presents elements of interest. Unlike the mass parties, the Pli perceived some crisis factors: the ever-increasing distance of the ruling class from citizens, the increase in public debt, the spread of bad practices in politics, the need for a big institutional reform, the growth of new political subjects (Leagues) they were issues widely addressed in the internal debate. What you notice is a very difficult situation of a party that is where it doesn’t want to be, that participates in the government but would like to stay out of it. 1 Despite a timid growth of consensus at the beginning of the crisis, just as a result of an effort to differentiate itself from the other government forces, the Pli was unable to escape the “Grande Slavina”. Factors related to its nature and its ideological-cultural identity, but also to its particular history, played a role on the “end” of the Pli, in spite of a favorable international situation (collapse of the Soviet system, Thatcherism, Reaganism). The essay proposes a reconstruction of the political parabola of the P.L.I. starting from the period following Malagodi’s opposition to the center-left governments. It is believed that this may serve to identify the reasons for the inability to impose itself as a valid political proposal in a completely changed scenario.

The National Health Policy for people with disabilities in Brazil: an analysis of the content, context and the performance of social actors.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the circumstances in which the National Health Policy for Persons with Disabilities (PNSPCD) came into place in 2002 and the factors supporting or impeding its implementation from 2002 to 2018. The analysis was based on the Comprehensive Policy Analysis Model proposed by Walt and Gilson and focussed on understanding the context, process, content and actors involved in the formulation and implementation of the Policy. Data were obtained from two sources: document analysis of the key relevant documents and seven key informant interviews. Content analysis was undertaken using the Condensation of Meanings technique. The research demonstrates that the development and implementation of PNSPCD is marked by advances and retreats, determined, above all, by national and international macro-political decisions. The policy was formulated during Fernando Henrique’s governments, under pressure from social movements and the international agenda and constituted a breakthrough for the rights of persons with disabilities. However, progress on implementation only took place under subsequent centre-left governments with the establishment of a care network for people with disabilities and a defined specific budget. These developments resulted from the mobilization of social movements, the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the rights of people with disabilities and the adherence of these governments to the human rights agenda. The coming to power of ultra-right governments triggered fiscal austerity, a setback in the implementation of the care network and a weakening in the content of various social policies related to the care of people with disabilities. During this era, the political approach changed, with the attempt to evade the role of the State, and the perspective of guaranteeing social rights. Undoubtedly, the neoliberal offensive on social policies, especially the Unified Health System, is the main obstacle to the effective implementation of the PNPCD in Brazil.

Faithful Participation: The ‘Ulama in Bangladeshi Politics

ABSTRACT The ‘ulama have an important position in Muslim society. They hold influence not only in the socio-religious domain but also in the political domain. This article aims to examine the religio-political roles of the ‘ulama in Bangladesh. The examination has been done through an exhaustive and critical content analysis of published secondary literature about the ‘ulama and politics. The article argues that the Bangladeshi ‘ulama are diverse and have shown their religio-political flexibility throughout recent history. The ‘ulama have also played effective religio-political roles in times of sociopolitical change. Their roles have also varied from time to time in accordance with the sociopolitical conditions. The article also shows that the ‘ulama have gained influence under center-right Governments and lost it under center-left Governments in post-independent Bangladesh.

Regionalismo e Integração Regional na América do Sul: uma discussão sobre as dificuldades e divergências ideológicas (2000-2016).

This paper analyzes the regional integration process in South America and discusses the main difficulties and obstacles until 2016. During the 2000s, with the so-called Pink Tide, there was the rise of several left-wing and center-left governments in the region, which were dedicated to formalizing regional integration initiatives to project South America as a center of power on the international scene. However, these initiatives were not homogeneous in their ideological aspects, generating some contrasts between them. Also, with the decline of the left-wing and center-left governments in the region between 2011 and 2016, the initiatives gradually weakened, causing a setback to regional integration in the subcontinent.

Introduction to ‘Pink Tides, Right Turns in Latin America’ special issue

ABSTRACT This special issue emerged from the seminar of the same name in which took place at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in Gatineau, Quebec in June 2019. It focused on two interrelated political and economic dynamics currently taking place in Latin America. First, the decline of the wave of Left and Centre-Left governments that emerged in the region in the early 2000s, known as the Pink Tide. Second is the recent emergence of the region’s new right-wing political and social movements, which picked up in intensity and influence around 2015.

Understanding the Charter of Workers’ Rights in its historical context

The Charter of Workers’ Rights was a major achievement of the Italian Socialist Party and of the center-left governments. This article explores some of the factors in the international context that allowed for a period of reforms in Italy. Changes in the policies of the US administration; a difficult leadership succession in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; the renewal of the Catholic Church thanks to the Vatican Council; and the enlargement of the Italian working class plus the role of the Socialist Minister of Labor must all be given credit for a truly significant piece of legislation. The Charter also contained a vision of the future, of a new society, still to come. JEL codes: J5, K31, Z13

Левые режимы в современной Латинской Америке: теоретические концепции и политическая практика

The article examines contemporary approaches to the interpretation of left-wing political regimes and offers his own typology. Particular attention is paid to the fluctuations of the political pendulum in the region in the first decades of this century, the reasons for the successes and failures of the left forces. The author analyzes the ideology and practical activity of the center-left and radical left governments and comes to the conclusion that the persisting and even deepening disagreements between them are associated not only with the interpretation of the socialist ideas, the recognition of various forms of property, the role of the state in the economy, its social functions and foreign policy orientation, but also with the peculiarities of electoral legislation, ensuring political pluralism, forms of political participation and respect for human rights and civil liberties.

Climate Change Acts in Scotland, Austria, Denmark and Sweden: the role of discourse and deliberation

ABSTRACT Climate Change Acts (CCAs) have become a key legislative tool to mitigate climate change. While various case studies have shown that ambition varies greatly, little is known about why this is the case. This comparative study aims to fill this gap by examining the emergence of six CCAs across four legislatures: Scotland (2009 and 2019), Austria (2011), Denmark (2014 and 2020) and Sweden (2017). We focus on climate change discourse broadly and processes of deliberation within legislatures specifically, to explore how they influenced the ambition of the six CCAs from our analysis. We combine extensive document analysis with 43 semi-structured interviews conducted between June 2018 and May 2019. We show that heightened attention at the discursive level combined with a strong deliberative process within legislatures to underpin all of the more ambitious CCAs. Overall, governments are more likely to adopt strong CCAs when prominent discursive junctures politicize climate policy and when parliamentary deliberation is strong. The overarching climate discourse and parliamentary deliberation had an even greater influence in our case studies than the political orientation of governments. Centre-left governments adopted weak GHG emission reduction targets at times of low political salience for climate but were more ambitious when supportive politicization of climate was present. Key policy insights CCAs have very different levels of ambition. While some are merely symbolic, others set out ambitious climate policy frameworks. Climate policy discourse, in a broad sense, shapes the content of CCAs. Prominent discursive junctures can support ambitious legislation. The level of deliberation in parliaments is another factor that shapes CCAs. More deliberation often helps to raise ambitions, in particular when broader discursive conditions are in favour of climate issues. Supportive climate discourse and opportunities for deliberation had more influence on the ambition of CCAs (in particular on GHG emission reduction targets) than the political orientation of governments.

Legitimizing private school policy within a political divide: the role of international references

ABSTRACT Researchers are increasingly emphasizing the importance of international actors’ influence on defining education policy in different contexts. The article argues that referencing international organizations is a way of legitimizing changes to private school policy. Using Norway as an example, the article investigates how international references are used by the political divide: first, a centre-right government liberalized private school policy. This was reversed by the successive centre-left government, before the successive centre-right government again liberalized private school policy. The study draws on content analysis of policy documents from 2002 to 2018. The analysis displays the eclectic nature of how international references are used to (de)legitimize private school policies. Different governments have used similar international references either to legitimise the liberalization of private schooling policy, or to delegitimise such policy. However, the analysis also shows that concepts like free choice, diversity and competition are central in legitimising private school policy. The study of international referencing in the education field indicates several consequences for the Norwegian education welfare state ideal, such as emphasising a stronger market-orientation. This study shows that analysing how actors position political arguments is important when understanding how nation states, as proactive entities, negotiate meaning and evidence from international references.

'Emergenza nomadi': Institutional Continuities in Italian Government Policy towards the Romanies

The Romani peoples today occupy a marginalised position in Italian society. A small number of these peoples live in ‘camps’ in conditions of extreme decay and abandonment. In order to address this situation and to improve these peoples’ lives, the Italian government has recently decided to implement an ‘extraordinary intervention.’ In 2008, in continuity with previous centre-left governments, the Berlusconi right-wing coalition implemented the so called ‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (nomad emergency). The state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that had been already categorised in the 1970s as the ‘problema nomadi’ (nomads problem), and was now described and handled as a ‘natural disaster.’ Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Third Sector representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, this article argues that the enactment of an extraordinary measure was both disproportionate to the real degree of threat, and perpetuated an institutional tradition of racism and control of the Romani peoples. It was not, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action. The ‘emergency’ and the premises for the implementation of a ‘state of exception’ were created by protracted institutional immobility and political vacuum.

O “Pós-Neoliberalismo” e a Reconfiguração do Capitalismo na América Latina

Today it is perplexing that the right wing has won support among popular and middle class sectors in Latin America, even in countries where left and center-left governments had improved their income and living conditions. But the advance of conservative social ideas and practices are not so recent nor have they arisen by spontaneous generation. 10 years ago I made the warning - as can be seen in this paper that is now published in Portuguese - that the strategy of the dominant, deployed since the 1990s to stabilize capitalist restructuring, was showing success in building a new bourgeois hegemony. The dominant strategy gained legitimacy because it was presented as “anti-neoliberal” or “post-neoliberal”, after having imposed a falsified notion about “neoliberalism”, and after appropriating the lexicon of so-called critical thinking. The stabilizing strategy had as one of its axes a profound reconfiguration of society, presenting as “progressive” ideas and policies elaborated by neo-conservatism since the 1980s. That “post-neoliberalism” elaborated from the system influenced left governments to different degrees , but it became the “mainstream” in the social sciences in Latin America.

Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue

Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue

Why Is It So Difficult to Reform Collective Labour Law? Associational Power and Policy Continuity in Chile in Comparative Perspective

AbstractSince Chile returned to democracy in 1990, centre-left governments have tried to reform the provisions on collective bargaining, strikes and unions established by the Pinochet dictatorship. Between 2015 and 2016 President Michelle Bachelet made the latest attempt to reform them. Despite favourable conditions, the changes were modest. This article explains why this is so. Drawing upon the notion of ‘associational power’ and through comparisons with labour reforms in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, this article suggests that the imbalance between workers’ and employers’ collective power is key for explaining why pro-labour reforms fail.

¿QUÉ CAMBIOS SE ESTÁN PRODUCIENDO EN LAS FUERZAS ARMADAS LATINOAMERICANAS?

Las Fuerzas Armadas latinoamericanas son una realidad dinámica más en una región en constante cambio. Mientras en Latinoamérica el antiguo predominio de gobiernos de centro-izquierda y de izquierda ha cedido paso a una gran mayoría de gobiernos conservadores, la integración subregional y regional aparece en franca decadencia, surge entre los Estados entre sí y dentro de ellos un enrarecido clima de lucha ideológica, y la prolongada paz de la región ya no parece un bien que hay que dar por sobreentendido, parece inevitable que ese nuevo clima regional impacte en las Fuerzas Armadas. En este ámbito puede observarse un claro retroceso del control civil o conducción política de la defensa en diversos grados en la mayoría de los Estados, pudiendo también advertirse una creciente tendencia al involucramiento de las referidas Fuerzas en roles no tradicionales militares, particularmente en seguridad interior, y la búsqueda o incluso el logro de cierta autonomía. Mientras el equipamiento y el gasto militar permanecen sin mayores alteraciones, algunos países se han reequipado significativamente, sin que ello se haya traducido hasta el momento en alteraciones o amenazas a la paz.Los máximos interrogantes parecen radicar en las limitaciones y desafíos en materia de control civil y en los efectos del creciente empleo de las Fuerzas Armadas en seguridad interior tanto en materia política –respecto del control civil–, así como el eventual debilitamiento de la democracia y del respeto de los derechos humanos en los países de la región, como también en los nunca descartables efectos que la polarización política pueda producir en materia de tensiones internacionales en la región.

OUTUBRO REBELDE: eleições e protestos na América Latina.

Resumo: O objetivo desse artigo é analisar os protestos ocorridos em alguns países da América Latina e do Caribe por volta do mês de outubro de 2019, relacionando-os tanto com a reassunção de governos conservadores quanto com os processos de alternância eleitoral entre governos neoliberais e de esquerda ou centro-esquerda nos últimos anos do século XX e início do século XXI.
 Palavras-chave: Protestos na América Latina, Neoliberalismo, Esquerdas na América Latina

Circulación de teatro y diplomacia cultural en el Río de la Plata

La cultura, entendida como pilar para el desarrollo de los Estados, además de un motor de crecimiento es una forma de vincularse con otras naciones. En este sentido, el arte materializa la cultura a través de sus lenguajes. De ellos, el escénico es el que mejor populariza la identidad cultural de quienes habitan el Río de la Plata hacia el exterior. El objetivo principal de esta ponencia es analizar la circulación teatral entre la Ciudad de Buenos Aires y Montevideo. El objetivo secundario, mensurar esa circulación para poder cuantificarla.
 Se propone abordar la problemática circunscribiendo el análisis a 2010-2017 puesto que es el período en que se produjo la profundización ideológica en ambos países de gobiernos de centroizquierda y parte del cambio de gobiernos. De este modo, se podrá observar, a través de la obtención de indicadores y el análisis de contenido de algunos tratados y acuerdos puntuales que se han suscripto entre los Estados así como la circulación teatral en términos cuantitativos.
 De esta manera, al comprender la circulación de teatro y la diplomacia cultural como variables, se procura relevar si en la práctica se genera el ámbito propicio para poder concebir una diplomacia cultural conjunta entre ambas ciudades. Asimismo, se espera analizar la incidencia de la denominada diplomacia cultural en la circulación teatral entre ambas ciudades. Profesionalmente, se observan casos de estudio interesantes, como la Movida Teatral de las dos Orillas o el Corredor Latinoamericano de Teatro, como ejemplos de esta acción cultural. No obstante, queda por ver en qué medida las políticas culturales de los gobiernos locales incentivan este tipo de prácticas. Por lo tanto, se busca encontrar el vínculo entre praxis y relaciones interculturales a una pequeña escala (ciudad-ciudad) para analizarlas.