Latin American Democracies Research Articles

Hacia una educación superior inclusiva

El proyecto de Estado-nación multicultural promovido por las sociedades contemporáneas se basa en el reconocimiento de la diversidad, en los derechos diferenciados y en la igualdad como condición estructural de la vida en comunidad. Este reconocimiento significa legitimar las luchas históricas de los grupos étnicos vernáculos y las minorías sociales, que han sido temas paradigmáticos de las luchas por la participación económica, social y política. El análisis de las perspectivas de diversidad y multiculturalismo para la construcción de un Estado-nación inclusivo y equitativo implica el reconocimiento del derecho a la identidad cultural de los grupos étnicos y culturalmente diferenciados, apreciando y aprendiendo sobre ellos y determinando su ubicación territorial mediante la construcción permanente de un diálogo intercultural. Este artículo es un estudio histórico que analiza la importancia del reconocimiento constitucional de la multiculturalidad para comprender los conflictos étnicos y culturales en la sociedad colombiana en el marco del estado social de derecho como mecanismo de construcción de diálogos interculturales, que haría posible formar una sociedad más inclusiva y equitativa, que trascienda el modelo de Estado monocultural sobre el cual se han construido las repúblicas latinoamericanas desde su fundación.

SUBNATIONAL AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA: THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

In Latin American democracies, many provinces and states display autocratic characteristics that are at odds with the national democratic context. The literature on subnational authoritarianism has cope with this puzzle, but the explanations rely mostly on the political and economic role of the national government. In order to explain the emergence and resilience of autocratic subnational governments, I present a theory that looks into the internal dynamics. I argue that subnational autocracies are possible in a context of low economic diversification. Undiversified economies with a dominant economic sector create a network of interests aligned with the incumbent and reduce the support for the opposition parties. In more diversified economies the inter-capitalist competition transfers economic actors’ demands to the political arena, financing opposition parties whenever they feel they are being unheard. I find evidence to support my argument and flesh out the mechanisms at work in a “most similar case” comparison of two neighboring states in Brazil: Bahia and Minas Gerais.

The Presidential Logic of Government Formation in Latin American Democracies

Is there a relationship between a party’s capacity to influence legislative deci­sion-making and its decision to be part of a government coalition? In this study, we argue that when formal legislative rules are more conducive to actors’ policy preferences, parties have fewer incentives to join the cabinet. To test our analytical model, we analyze 68 governments and 112 cabinets in 12 presidential systems, from 1979 to 2011. Our results indicate that the decision to integrate the cabinet in presidential systems is related to the level of influence parties have on legislative policy formation in Latin American democracies.

The First World War and the Latin American transition from coal to petroleum

While it is true that the precise nature of the future energy transition is uncertain, and no standardized transition is expected as such, it is also true that the energy transition phenomenon can only be described as an historical phenomenon. The Latin American early adoption of petroleum as principal energy source during the first quarter of the 20th century challenged the universality of the energy transition observed for the advanced economies and the associated features regarding pace, irreversibility and the sequence within the energy transition. This paper deepens on the analysis of this episode marked by the disruptions created by First World War to show how economic, geographical and political aspects defined the shape and pace of the early switch to oil of the Latin American republics. The aim is to develop a more nuanced understanding of socio-spatial contexts, scale, and the global–local relationships that constitute core elements of socio-technical systems.

Democracia y ciudadanía

¿Por qué es importante recuperar el concepto de democracia en América Latina ¿Cuál ha sido el rendimiento de las democracias latinoamericanas desde la década del 80 en la reducción de las desigualdades? ¿Qué sucede con la idea de ciudadanía y participación? ¿Cuáles son los obstáculos para la profundización democrática? Este ensayo pretende introducir algunas perspectivas para analizar estas interrogantes, concentrando la atención en el daño que han hecho las tradiciones del Norte Global y el neoliberalismo en la construcción de una idea de democracia capaz de movilizar a la ciudadanía hacia proyectos políticos hegemónicos y soberanos que reduzcan la desigualdad y promuevan un paradigma del bienestar que dé respuesta a las necesidades e intereses de los pueblos latinoamericanos.

Economic Voting in Latin America: Rules and Responsibility

AbstractThe impact of institutions on the economic vote stands as a well‐established proposition for the advanced democracies of Europe. We know less, however, regarding the institutional effects on the economic vote in the developing democracies of Latin America. Carrying out an analysis of presidential elections in 18 Latin American countries, we offer evidence that the usual Eurocentric conceptualization of the clarity of responsibility is not ideal for understanding the economic vote in this region. There does exist a powerful effect of institutions on the economic vote within Latin American democracies, but one uniquely associated with its presidential regimes and dynamic party systems. Rules for these elections—such as concurrence, term limits, and second‐round voting—suggest that we should reconceptualize the notion of the clarity of responsibility in Latin America, focusing more on individuals in power and their constraints, and less on the political parties from which they hail.

Democratic Survival and Weakness

Today, most countries in Latin America are experiencing the longest uninterrupted period of democracy in their respective histories. Yet while Latin American democracies may be surviving, few are thriving. Public-opinion surveys reveal waning satisfaction with democratic systems, which Latin Americans have expressed by voting against the political establishment. Public anger at established parties is in some cases a response to poor governance, but also has deeper structural causes that include persistent social inequality, state weakness, and weak political parties. Latin American democracies also face new challenges from a resurgent illiberal right; rising partisan polarization; and a changing international environment. Nonetheless, the continuing robustness of core democratic institutions—together with the poor recent track record of the region’s autocracies—offers some grounds for democratic optimism.

From Macro‐Nationalism to Anti‐Imperialism: Pan‐Latinism in France in the Late Twentieth Century

AbstractPan‐Latinism, like pan‐Germanism and pan‐Slavism, was a macro‐nationalist movement which emerged in the nineteenth century. Supporters of pan‐Latinism deplored the decline of the ‘Latin’ civilization vis‐à‐vis Anglo‐Saxon or Germanic powers, and dreamed of creating a new Roman Empire. This movement took root in countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania and the Latin American republics, but most of all in France, the biggest ‘Latin’ power at the time. After the Second World War, a French initiative led to the foundation of a ‘Latin Union’ – an international organization which became the main organ of pan‐Latinism. French partisans of pan‐Latinism conveyed this ideology as a form of resistance to the increasing Anglo‐Saxon linguistic and cultural hegemony. But rather than reflecting a pluralistic vision, French initiatives to promote pan‐Latinism generally strove to increase their country's influence in Europe and beyond. This was particularly evident from 1983 to 1997, when the Latin Union was led by the Frenchman Philippe Rossillon, an enthusiastic defender of Francophonie, which replaced the idea of a ‘Latin’ civilization with a community of French‐speaking regions. This coincided with the goals of pan‐Latinism, which generally strove to augment France's international importance and influence.

Movimientos sociales y democracia: modos de lo pol�tico

In this work, I will develop the hypothesis about how since the last years of 20th century in Latin America there has been many social and political movements that interpellated Latin-American neoliberal democracies (1997-2007). The emergency of this social and political movements represented the main contribution for us, intellectuals to be able start thinking in a different way and to get free from our own files about political philosophy which had classical European shapes that had us caught in insufficient categories to understand our own contexts. Such as the duality between public/private; society/state; civil society/political society; citizenship/democracy.

Proportional Representation, Large District Magnitude and Closed Lists

AbstractChoosing the type of electoral system in new democracies has become a contested issue for social scientists as well as for political actors. Contrary to the state of the public debate on the issue, the article advances the position from a multidisciplinary standpoint (political science, historical sociology, economics) that proportional representation with large districts and closed lists performs better on a variety of key indicators. We review recent literature on the performance of electoral systems especially in post-communist and Latin American democracies. The article identifies the centripetal theory of democracy as a normative basis for our institutional prescriptions and discusses how distinct types of political representation relate to the debate on electoral systems. We focus especially on four main concerns commonly associated with proportional representation (the rise of “extremist” parties, government instability, party system deconsolidation, and corruption and clientelism). Contrary to much of the public debate on electoral systems, we conclude that further steps towards personalization (by opening lists or reducing district magnitude) are not advisable.

Constitutional Courts as Mediators: Armed Conflict, Civil-Military Relations, and the Rule of Law in Latin America. By Julio Ríos-Figueroa. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Constitutional Courts as Mediators: Armed Conflict, Civil-Military Relations, and the Rule of Law in Latin America. By Julio Rios-Figueroa. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.Comparative constitutional law is a vibrant field of study, especially in Latin America. The confluence of democratization and major economic reforms following the demise of authoritarian regimes (in the 1980s and early 1990s) generated a nearly consensual belief that the 1990s were an era of great hopes regarding civil liberties, political stability, and wealth distribution in the region.Almost three decades later, it seems that such optimistic prediction was not entirely fulfilled. Even if a wave of constitutional changes inscribed transformative socioeconomic rights in many countries' legal orders (the Latin American constitutionalism of Colombia 1991, Venezuela 1999, Ecuador 2008, and Bolivia 2009), political stability, and economic growth remained somewhat fragile.The recurrent crises of presidential systems and an unprecedented flood of impeachments swept Latin America in the 1990s: in just over a decade, six presidents faced and impeachment process and four of them were removed from office (Perez-Linan 2007). The frequent and widespread mobilization of the impeachment mechanism challenged many of the dominant views among political scientists, reopening important questions in the literature about Latin American democracies, both on structure and functioning.The new institutional balance that is perceived in Latin America involves the understanding of the role of an important political and strategic actor: Constitutional Courts. Performing an increasingly active position in several of the most politically sensitive national issues, the courts emerge as neutral and reliable instances aimed to protect democratic regimes. For this reason, traditional framings and the mere reproduction of the common sense about judiciary competences are becoming outdated.What lessons can be drawn from these experiences? Do these phenomena corroborate the narratives that emphasize the institutional fragility of Latin American democracies? Despite the discussion around its causes, what does political fragmentation and constitutional changes imply for practical functioning of institutions?Rios-Figueroa departs from this context to create a bold and compelling perspective on the structure, democratic position and strategic behavior of Courts. Combining a stimulating narrative and both qualitative and quantitative methods, Constitutional Courts as Mediators articulates a strong thesis about the role played by constitutional courts as democratic mediators, particularly in dealing with often tense civil-military relations. Focusing on how the accessibility to constitutional justice conditions the production of mediator-like jurisprudence, Rios-Figueroa demonstrates an impressive command of a range of complex content: conflict resolution, judicial politics, and comparative constitutional law.Rios-Figueroa argues that to the extent that constitutional courts are (1) highly accessible, (2) have ample powers of judicial review, and (3) are independent, they are more likely to obtain and credibly transmit relevant information, in a way that helps them address the underlying informational causes of their conflict (24). …

Legislative Coalition Size and Antigovernment Protests in Latin America

This work examines whether the size, as well as the composition, of legislative coalitions is an additional factor that affects the incidence of protests against national governments in Latin America. Based on aggregate data for 18 democracies from 1980 to 2014, the analysis reveals that the relationship between the size of legislative coalitions in the lower house of national assemblies and the odds of antigovernment protests is U-shaped. Specifically, the odds of antigovernment protests occurring decrease until the president has a coalition comprising 50–55 percent of the national assembly; once this threshold is passed, the odds of protests taking place increase as the coalition grows. This result holds after controlling for the party composition of the governing coalition and other factors previously linked to the occurrence of antigovernment protests. The evidence thus indicates that both minority and supermajority scenarios can be socially destabilizing for Latin American democracies.

The French Pacific Division and the Chincha Islands War (1864–7)

The Chincha Islands War, fought between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866, took place while France was trying to impose an Austrian emperor on Mexico with the growing concern that the United States might intervene in both conflicts. Threatening French investments and interests in the two Latin American countries, the war was occasionally monitored by nine French warships sailing from France to the western Mexican coast or returning back. Therefore, French reports give another perspective on a little known confrontation in a complex international environment. As representatives of a neutral power with interests at stake, French officers relied on experience and guts to analyse the conflict and influence the protagonists while the Pacific Division Admiral authorized them to report directly to the Marine Minister. This little war revealed once more the geopolitical abilities of multitasking naval officers, from a junior lieutenant who strongly protested the bombardment of Valparaiso and British passivity to a seasoned but distant rear admiral who felt that Latin American Republics had to be confronted on occasions to ensure that they would give a fair treatment to foreign nationals and businesses in the future.

Español

In the history of the Peruvian and Latin American republics it is noticed that it is not yet posible to get out of social underdevelopment, there are still in many places of South America serious illiteracy, poverty, sickness and unemployment indexes in detriment of the economic and social progress of the peoples, which raises the question What to do? We think that these social ills are the responsability of our political, judicial, social or other authorities, because they did not prioritize good public management capable of emerging from social underdevelopment, in that sense ethics and politics with a power of the state well guided can give a positive turn to public managment, that is, those procedures of public administration that instead of achieving the common good ended in a bureaucratic evil, that is, in a goverment power worn without goals that do not build. So now ethics and politics should be democratic and social tools of state power to get out of underdevelopment, understanding ethics as a guide to do the right thing in search of values and principles that contain social peace, legal security, common well-being, freedom and human dignity, that is, ethical values and goals that fight against a greedy and prejudiced society product of certain estimative illness that does not cannel, nor prioritize the real change that must exist in all public management in favor of the peoples.

Small money, big problems: how an investigation on small Latin American republics shaped the financial market for sovereign debt in the 19th century

Abstract In 1875 the British Parliament set up a Committee to investigate frauds on loans underwritten by British and French banks to the Republics of Honduras, Costa Rica, Santo Domingo and Paraguay, reaching an amount of £12 million. The reports of the Committee and the press coverage issue revealed financial malpractices by banks and diplomats in order to induce millionaire defaults at expense of the bondholders, whilst the loan agents were living in luxuriant mansions in southern France. After the investigation, these shoddy practices were exposed to the public, reshaping the loan business for the rest of the century.

¿Por qué y cómo se está extendiendo el Manifesto Project a América Latina?

This piece of research examines the inclusion of Latin American democracies into the Manifesto Project´s database –named Manifesto Research on Political Representation (MARPOR) since 2009–. It addresses some theoretical and conceptual implications related to the study of the functioning of delegation chains in presidential regimes from MARPOR´s perspective. Particularly, it is here analyzed the meaning of electoral programs in parliamentary and presidential systems. Besides, it is explained the revision of the standard classification scheme and other adjustments introduced to the methodology prior to this extension. Lastly, the protocol applied for gathering Latin-American parties and candidates’ manifestos is shared.

Civil Society Organizations, Advocacy, and Policy Making in Latin American Democracies ‐ by Risley, Amy

Bulletin of Latin American ResearchVolume 36, Issue 2 p. 262-263 Book Review Civil Society Organizations, Advocacy, and Policy Making in Latin American Democracies - by Risley, Amy Lorenza B. Fontana, Lorenza B. Fontana Harvard UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Lorenza B. Fontana, Lorenza B. Fontana Harvard UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 05 March 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/blar.12630Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume36, Issue2Special Issue: Student Movements and Political Change in Contemporary Latin AmericaApril 2017Pages 262-263 RelatedInformation

Filosofía analítica y democracia en América Latina. (Diálogo con el texto “Qué es y qué puede ser la filosofía analítica” de Guillermo Hurtado)

<p class='p1'>En este breve comentario se pretende dialogar con el estimulante texto de Guillermo Hurtado y profundizar en lo que parece su mayor preocupación: el papel político que la filosofía analítica debe desempeñar en una relación crítica y constructiva con las democracias latinoamericanas.</p>

Democracia, Radicalización, y Agencia Política en América Latina

This article integrates the empirical findings of four quantitative studies to analyze the consequences of political radicalization to Latin American democracies. The first section of the paper defines and operationalizes the concept of radicalism. The following sections explore the consequences of radicalization among the government and the opposition for the survival of elected governments and of the democratic regime; the capacity of radical governments to undermine political competition in periods of fast economic growth, and the consequences of institutional erosion and polarization for regime instability. The evidence presented in the paper calls for reassessing the role of political leadership and its agency to understand the future of the region.

WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN LATIN AMERICA

A consolidated representative democracy requires representation of all citizens—including women. Yet, most Latin American countries fall short of gender equality in legislative representation at the national level. In this paper, I analyze women’s representation in Latin America asking three questions: What does women’s representation in Latin America look like? Why does it look that way? And, what are the consequences of women’s representation for legislative politics and democracy in Latin America? I answer these questions drawing on recent research conducted on women’s representation and present original data from my research on women’s representation in Latin America. I conclude that women’s representation in national legislatures has increased over time in just about every country but to varying degrees. Women’s representation today continues to vary widely across the region. The primary explanation for this is the nature of electoral institutions in Latin American countries—specifically, the magnitude of electoral districts, gender quota laws, party control over their ballots. The benefits of including women in national legislatures are myriad but include most importantly greater attention to women’s issues in the legislative arena. Yet, challenges still persist for women in political office, specifically, their continued lack of access to real political power. These obstacles must be addressed for women to attain full political representation in Latin American democracies, and thus, for Latin American democracies to be fully consolidated.