Left-wing Governments Research Articles

Representing women, women representing: backbenchers’ questions during Prime Minister’s Questions, 1979–2010

This article investigates linguistic traces of changing trends in the substantive representation of women, as well as broader representational claims related to constituencies, via an analysis of all backbench questions posed during Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK House of Commons during 1979–2010. We investigate the impact of sharp increases in female MPs, in particular, left-wing female MPs, and the presence of a left-wing government on MPs’ talk about women and about constituencies. We find no evidence of curvilinear trends in talk about women related to changes in government and female parliamentary presence. We also find that female MPs can be considered critical actors with regard to constituency talk.

Ideology or voters? A quasi-experimental test of why left-wing governments spend more

This paper analyzes and compares the explanatory powers of the two main theories describing the processes that lead left-wing governments to spend more than right-wing ones: (1) a demand-driven process whereby voters demand more expenditures and thus vote for the left; (2) a supply-driven process whereby governments in office follow their preferences/ideologies at the cost of deviating from constituents’ demands (party preference hypothesis). We provide a model that identifies the predictions associated with those hypotheses and show that they generate a problem of observational equivalence in empirical analysis. We solve the problem by applying two identification strategies, Regression Discontinuity Design and Propensity Score Matching. Using data from the French local public sector, our estimates provide mixed evidence of supply-side effects. Left-wing governments facing socioeconomic situations analogous to right-wing ones seem not to spend more on social services, but they do appear to spend more on other types of expenditure programs.

Does government ideology shake or shape the public finances? Empirical evidence of disaster assistance

Abstract This study explores whether the public spending provided in response to a natural disaster is influenced by the political ideology of the incumbent government. We use a global panel of about 90 democratic countries. Political parties have different preferences regarding policies that redistribute income within a country after a natural disaster. The estimates of a dynamic panel model clearly indicate that left-wing governments allocate about 2.8 percent more public support per capita in the aftermath of a disaster than right-wing cabinets do. Besides, cabinets that consist of at least one nationalistic political party provide about 0.9 percent more disaster assistance than other coalitions. One explanation is that natural disasters may reinforce the feelings of voters related to the national identity and domestic solidarity. Finally, it turns out that the ideology effect is most visible in political systems with direct elections as it is easier to target affected voters in these systems.

Does a Change of Government Influence Compliance with International Agreements? Empirical Evidence for the NATO Two Percent Target

ABSTRACT We examine whether changes of government influence compliance with international agreements. We investigate compliance with the NATO two percent target to which all NATO countries committed themselves during the NATO summit in Wales in 2014. The dataset includes the military expenditure by NATO countries over the period 2010–2018. The results suggest that countries that do not (yet) comply with the two percent target have smaller growth rates in military expenditure relative to GDP when they experienced a large change of government, e.g. a change from a rightwing to a leftwing government, than countries that did not experience such a large change of government since the NATO summit in 2014. Countries that experienced a large change of government are, thus, less likely to comply with the two percent target. Future research should examine the credibility problem of national governments in other international agreements too.

Food sovereignty vs food security in Brazil: tensions and oppositions within agroecology as an objective

Brazil may appear to be a good student regarding food security and governance. Indeed, it implemented a national policy for food and nutrition security (FNSP) which is simultaneously unsectoralised, participatory and decentralised. The advocated model is the result of a significant contribution from social movements whose proposals have nurtured public policies during the last decade and have replaced the global food security framework with that of food sovereignty. This article aims to analyse the social changes that have accompanied the promotion of food sovereignty, which stands as a legacy to the history of the fight against hunger in Brazil. Since the end of the dictatorship, actions towards food sovereignty have been carried out in an unstable context of two development benchmarks within the State itself. The institutional commitment associated with it is epitomised under Lula by the arrival of managers close to social movements in a State still partly in the hands of traditional rural elites. In fact, two agrifood systems clashed and entered into open conflict after the destitution of Dilma Rousself. On the one hand, agribusiness, whose political aim is that of ecological modernization, drove a techno-environmental system. On the other hand, the world of NGOs, social movements and representatives of the left-wing government were united under the banner of a socio-ecological system: agroecology. Both social movements and agribusiness, amidst an unceasing struggle for power, attempted to build a certain level of unity in order to strengthen their networks of influence and increase their penetration within society. The end of institutionalised duality begs the question of the ability of these two models to coexist or even possibly evolve to become a hybrid of the two.Keywords: food security; agroecology; agrobusiness; agricultural models; social movements.PINTON, Florence; YANNICK, Sencébé. Soberania versus segurança alimentar no Brasil: tensões e oposições em torno da agroecologia como projeto. Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura, v. 27, n. 1, p. 24-46, fev. 2019.Submitted in september 2018.Accepted in december 2018.

Conservative Governments and Latin America's Human Rights Landscape

In 2009, as the American Convention on Human Rights turned forty, Left-wing governments ruled in almost all Latin American countries. The democratization wave that began in the late 1980s had produced a seemingly hegemonic turn to the Left—the so-called “Pink Tide.” A decade later, the political landscape was radically different. With only a few exceptions, Right-wing governments are in power throughout Latin America. The implications of the conservative wave have been felt in a number of areas—including human rights. This essay explores the ways in which the new conservative governments of Latin American have tried to curb the inter-American human rights system and examines the potential long-term consequences that their efforts may have on the regional system and the protection of human rights. It then suggests possible avenues for sound engagement between states and the system, observing that the Inter-American Court's expansive case law may cause more harm in the long run.

Does a Change of Government Influence Compliance with International Agreements? Empirical Evidence for the NATO Two Percent Target

We examine whether changes of government influence compliance with international agreements. We investigate compliance with the NATO two percent target to which all NATO countries committed themselves during the NATO summit in Wales in 2014. The dataset includes the military expenditure by NATO countries over the period 2010–2018. The results suggest that countries that do not (yet) comply with the two percent target have smaller growth rates in military expenditure relative to GDP when they experienced a large change of government, e.g. a change from a rightwing to a leftwing government, than countries that did not experience such a large change of government since the NATO summit in 2014. Countries that experienced a large change of government are, thus, less likely to comply with the two percent target. Future research should examine the credibility problem of national governments in other international agreements too.

Uruguay: The End of the Dream?

During the Pink Tide, international attention often focused on the most flamboyant and controversial heads of state, with their radical rhetoric and often limited commitment to the separation of powers. Perhaps it was for that reason that Uruguay, despite a very serious project of reform and three consecutive left-wing governments led by the Frente Amplio (Broad Front), attracted less attention. When international attention did arrive, it was usually by way of contrast. The avuncular former guerrilla, in the figure of José "Pepe" Mujica, seemed an antithesis to the large egos serving as heads of state elsewhere; he lived on a modest farm and drove a 1987 blue Volkswagen Beetle while president from 2010 to 2015. He could also be counted on for expressions of democratic values. He made way for his predecessor (and successor), Tabaré Vázquez. And surveying the struggles of the left on the international scene shortly after he left office, Mujica judged: "If it is the left's turn to lose ground, let it lose ground and learn, for it will have to begin again." But if Uruguay seems like the most successful of the Pink Tide's "social democratic governments," its transformative legacy in Uruguayan history assured, its future is less certain.

Present and Future Public Policy Challenges for Latin America

Latin American Policy’s (LAMP) second volume for 2018, collects eight brilliant papers assessing current and potential public-policy challenges for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Peter Ward and Robert Wilson set the scope of these challenges in the findings of their article. After interviewing 50 “key informants,” they map out some of the current problems afflicting the region and trace those that loom in the foreseeable future. Betsy Smith’s paper deals with one of the challenges that could potentially become more pressing—the failure of the institutions of the Organization of American States (OAS) to protect democratic systems throughout LAC countries. In this same vein, Victor Mijares’ contribution addresses the shortcomings of the South American Defense Council in launching regional-security policies that reflect the interests and concerns of its members. The remaining five articles included in this volume cover sensitive issues reflected currently in some key countries. Anthony Jordan and John Tuman analyze the political rationale of expulsions of U.S. diplomatic personnel from LACs, focusing especially on left-wing governments. Lorena Oyarzún-Serrano’s contribution highlights the role played by Chile in the Pacific Alliance, as a means to defend “open regionalism” at a time when Donald Trump is burying it. Wilfredo Flores’ paper deals with energy scenarios in Honduras after the putsch of 2009. José Antonio Hernández and David Argente, and Gabriela Muñoz and Marcela López-Vallejo make their respective contributions on Mexico. The first two authors analyze clientelistic practices and capacities, suggesting that capacities are important to understand the political success of these practices. The final two authors present a thought-provoking contribution suggesting the need to build a transregional governance architecture to integrate better the electricity market already operating between California and Baja California. We hope our growing readers will enjoy these eight contributions and find them inspiring. Isidro Morales is a researcher and professor in the School of Government and Public Transformation at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an external fellow of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

Crisis, Ideology, and Interventionist Policy Ratchets

Proper government reaction to economic crisis has long been a central element of public policy debate and is experiencing a revival after the Great Recession of 2008. Previous studies argue on theoretical and empirical grounds that crises may lead to more interventionist policies, but also cause deregulation and liberalization. This article claims that policy responses will partly depend on the core economic ideology of government, causing ideologically heterogeneous post-crisis strategies. Employing a panel of 69 countries for which salient ideology measures can be constructed, we find that growth crises between 1975 and 2015 caused larger increases in government size and regulatory policy when countries have left-wing governments. We also find some evidence of policy ratchets, meaning that certain crisis policies present a tendency to become permanent, regardless of the ideology of successive governments in power. Rolling back the public sector in size and scope seems to be possible, but our results show that, on average, it does not clearly occur as an ideologically driven reaction to anti-crisis policies.

Do political factors influence public health expenditures? Evidence pre- and post-great recession.

This paper analyses whether government ideology and other political- and electoral-related factors influence country-level public healthcare expenditures, focussing on the impact of the Great Recession on that relationship. We test this hypothesis for the OECD countries in 1970-2016. Our results reveal the presence of a partisan effect, left-wing governments being more likely to raise public expenditures in the health sector. We also find that coalitions increase these expenditures, whilst minority governments and those with a high presence in the lower house decrease them. Meanwhile, the opportunistic behaviour of incumbents related to the timing of elections is not supported by our results. The percentage of public expenditures over total health expenditures is also examined, obtaining similar results regarding the partisan effect. However, the onset of the Great Recession has altered these relationships, neutralizing the impact of political factors.

Government Partisanship and Electoral Accountability: The Effect of Perceived Employment Situation on Partisan Vote Switching

What are the electoral impacts of perceptions of unemployment under different partisan persuasions of the government? Neither the literature on retrospective economic voting nor partisan voting has provided a compelling answer to this question. This paper addresses this puzzle by analyzing panel surveys and leveraging differences in government partisanship in two consecutive elections. I argue that negative evaluations of the employment situation induce voter transition to support a left-wing party under a right-wing government, but that such voter perceptions do not affect vote choice under a left-wing government. An analysis of a voter transition, using British Election Panel Study 1992–1997 and 1997–2001, reveals findings that support my argument. My argument suggests conditional partisan voting effects. Essentially, the effect of economic issues on vote choice is conditional on issue salience and which party “owns” the issue, namely, the varying levels of issue salience related to government partisanship.

Debt, Defaults and Dogma: Politics and the Dynamics of Sovereign Debt Markets

Using data from 40 nations, we obtain new stylized facts regarding the impact of political leanings of the ruling government on sovereign debt yields and fiscal policy. Left-wing governments' yields are 166 basis points higher and 23% more volatile than yields of right-wing governments. Moreover, left-wing governments face more counter-cyclical yields. Left-wing governments have higher levels of government spending and right-wing governments collect lower tax revenue as a percent of GDP. A calibrated sovereign default model with elections and two politically heterogeneous policy makers who differ in the marginal impact of their fiscal choices on their re-election probabilities delivers the above-mentioned facts.

Redistributing under fiscal constraint: partisanship, debt, inequality and labour market regulation

AbstractLabour market regulation varies significantly, both within and between developed democracies. While there has been extensive research and debate in economics on the consequences of labour market regulation, the political causes for levels and changes in labour market regulation have received less scholarly attention. This article investigates a political economy explanation for differences in labour market regulation building on a theoretical argument that labour regulation can be used as a nonfiscal redistribution tool. Consequently, partisanship, the demand for redistribution and government budget constraint jointly determine whether labour market regulation will increase or decrease. Consistent with this argument, panel analyses from 33 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries reveal that labour market regulation increases under left-wing governments that face increased market inequality and high government debt.

Access to general social protection for immigrants in advanced democracies

Immigration has become a central socio-political issue in most advanced democracies. While research mainly focuses on immigrant-specific policies in the area of immigration, integration and citizen...

Politics and Corporate Investments

In this paper, I analyze companies' investment behavior under different local governments. For identification, I employ a Regression Discontinuity Design on close municipal elections in Germany. I find that companies that are subjected to right-wing governments significantly increase their investments by 11.71% compared to companies subjected to left-wing governments. Then, I propose and test three explanations on why previous papers did not find an effect of local politics on economic outcomes. In accordance with theory, effects are strongest in contested and populous municipalities that have a large budget. Finally, I provide cross-sectional evidence on the relationship between corporate investments and uncertainty. I substantiate previous findings by showing that firms adjust their capital stock quickly after the uncertainty of the election is resolved.

Between Ricardo and Wagner: A Case Study on the History of Banking Legislation (1876-1879)

This paper provides a case history of the attempt by the first Italian left-wing government to regulate the banks’ issue system in the second half of the 19th century. From the point of view of banking policy, behind the gradualist approach to institutional changes lay an eclectic theory on the value of money between Ricardo and Wagner, which also characterized the action of the Minister of Economy Majorana in the first three years of the left-wing Government. The middle way favored by the Minister for banking regulation was largely inspired by the financial policy developed by Chase, Secretary of the Treasury in President Lincoln’s cabinet, during the American Civil War. These measures formed a model of moderate free banking, in the balance between hard and soft money, between the money issued by the State and that produced by private banks, and indeed between decentralization and centralization of the monetary institutions. This policy proved able to unify the currency in the Union on a permanent basis, appropriate to control the very strong inflationary pressures triggered by military spending, also financed by issue of greenbacks, but, above all, opportune to create a market for government bonds. In the case of Italy, examined here, regulatory response proved ineffective due both to the many changes that had been made to the project during parliamentary approval, severely compromising the rationality and consistency of Majorana’s original project, and to the failure to implement it. The insufficient legislation introduced was not able to stem the banking crisis, which became systemic in the early1890s.

Paid domestic work and the struggles of care workers in Latin America

About 30% of households are intimately involved in paid domestic work in Latin America, either as employers or as workers. Paid domestic workers overwhelmingly are female, from racial and ethnic minorities, and earn low wages. Labour codes have historically accorded them fewer rights and protections. Domestic workers have organized to demand equal rights, and recently, this organizing has begun to pay off. This article discusses the dynamics of paid domestic work through the themes of commodification and changes in government policies. Through a comparison of post-millennium Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Peru, the article compares the working conditions and struggles of domestic workers and highlights the factors that explain different outcomes in terms of labour rights and protections across these countries. It is argued that stronger rights and protections were made possible by the interactive effects of domestic workers organizing, more sympathetic left-wing governments, and the watershed ILO 2011 Convention on Domestic Workers.

Top income shares inOECDcountries: The role of government ideology and globalisation

AbstractThis paper investigates how government ideology and globalisation are associated with top income shares in 17OECDcountries over the period 1970 to 2014. We use top income shares of the World Wealth and Income Database (WID). Globalisation is measured by theKOFindex of globalisation. Static and dynamic panel model results show that the top income shares increased more under right wing governments than under left wing governments. The ideology‐induced effect was stronger when globalisation proceeded more rapidly. Globalisation was positively correlated with income shares of the upper‐middle class (P99–P90), but negatively with income shares of the rich (top 1%) in the overall sample. We show that the relationship differs between Anglo‐Saxon countries and otherOECDcountries. Globalisation was more pro‐rich in Anglo‐Saxon countries than in otherOECDcountries. Government ideology does not turn out to have a statistically significant effect on top income shares in Anglo‐Saxon countries after the 1980s, whereas ideology‐induced differences in the distributional outcomes continued in otherOECDcountries.

Who Can Reform the Labor Market? IMF Conditionality, Partisanship, and Labor Unions

ABSTRACTLabor market reforms are critical for economic growth. Yet, they are politically contentious, and governments, more often than not, are faced with strong opposition from interest groups. Scholarly work shows that governments often rely on external intervention to implement politically difficult reforms. This is the case with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that typically conditions its financing on the implementation of required reforms. Do borrowing governments benefit from IMF programs to overcome domestic opposition to reform by organized interests? Utilizing a unique new data set on IMF conditionality, I show that partisan and electoral concerns and domestic alliances strongly affect the implementation of labor market reforms, even when the IMF imposes them. When faced with increasing number of strikes, left-wing governments are more likely to implement labor market reforms than center/right-wing governments. However, the left is less likely than the center/right to fulfill its international commitments during election years when labor groups are militant. These findings highlight the left’s unique ability to form pro-reform coalitions and the IMF’s conditional role in removing domestic political opposition to reform. Counter-intuitively, right-wing governments still struggle to reform the labor market, even during economic crises and under IMF programs.