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This article aims at explaining the changes in the democratic conditionality of the European Union over time from the institutional contexts of the domestic and regional levels. The comparison milestones regard enlargements that happened between 1993 and 2014. Variations on the dependent variable are analysed in light of the principles and procedures of the concept of polyarchy (Dahl 1989). This analysis demonstrates and explains that the democratic conditionality of the EU has changed over time, becoming more complete and with more pluralist principles when applied to the enlargements. It also highlights the relation between the democratic conditionality and the democratic deficit of the EU by the incorporation of democratic principles and procedures in EU institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyse the content of the speeches delivered by Brazilian Presidents, Foreign Ministers and Ambassadors at annual Ordinary Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in the period between 1946 and 2019. Our primary objective is to find out how often and under what circumstances Brazilian diplomats mentioned the subject of American regionalism and whether the mention was made in reference to specific projects or to abstract concepts of regional integration and cooperation. Based on this analysis, we highlight the great deal of importance that was given to MERCOSUR - and, to a lesser extent, UNASUR - to the detriment of other regional integration projects, as well as the preference, by Brazilian diplomats, for a flexible, low-profile, abstract and low-cost discursive approach. In short, we found that cooperation and integration have frequently been discussed, although little attention has been devoted to the limits and possibilities of each project under construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O objetivo do texto é discutir o processo de integração latino-americano, com atenção especial às posições brasileiras, visando compreender os elementos de continuidade entre a política dos primeiros anos da República, particularmente o período do Barão do Rio Branco (1902-1912), e a atualidade. Buscam-se as raízes remotas da política brasileira em relação à integração regional que, nos anos 1980, confluíram na proposta do Mercosul. Analisam-se as atitudes do Brasil em relação aos seus vizinhos, bem como os experimentos de coordenação de políticas e estratégias destinadas a maximizar os interesses dos países da região.

O campo de estudos da integração regional evoluiu pouco no que se refere à comparação e à definição de critérios para a avaliação de casos. Um procedimento recorrente é aplicar a outros processos critérios elaborados para o caso europeu. Como o modelo de integração adotado na Europa não se repete em outras partes do mundo, esse procedimento só pode levar às mesmas conclusões: a avaliação de que há problemas nos demais blocos, de que suas perspectivas são ruins e de que, em alguns casos, sequer se caracteriza um processo de integração. Portanto, é necessário estabelecer critérios que possam ser aplicados universalmente e que avaliem os blocos de integração de acordo com seu nível de institucionalização, como já foi proposto e adotado na ciência política para os regimes democráticos e os sistemas partidários. Essa é uma tarefa urgente para a sistematização e a pesquisa comparativa no campo de estudos da integração regional. O trabalho, então, propõe um conjunto de critérios que tem capacidade de medir o nível de institucionalização em diferentes âmbitos da integração e indicadores para cada critério. Além disso, faz uma seleção abrangente das dimensões de análise, para não privilegiar certo âmbito ou modelo de integração. Os critérios são aplicados, então, a CAN, Mercosul, Unasul e UE, considerando o processo europeu como mais um caso, e não como parâmetro para a análise. O resultado observado corrobora essa perspectiva, já que a UE, ao contrário do esperado, não apresenta o nível de institucionalização mais alto em todas as dimensões.

O que me proponho neste trabalho é discutir o tema da livre circulação dos trabalhadores no Mercosul, levando-se em conta que esta liberdade - diferentemente de outras que aparecem como objetivos essenciais a serem alcançados no processo de integração desta sub-região - não faz parte do texto do Tratado de Assunção, assinado em março de 1991. Esta ausência é reveladora, na medida em que a liberdade de circulação de pessoas constitui um dos elementos que evidencia com maior clareza a existência de um processo de integração, na medida em que afeta diretamente a vida dos cidadãos assegurando seu livre trânsito dentro do bloco e oportunidades iguais entre os nacionais e não nacionais. No texto do referido Tratado, a integração aparece limitada à circulação de capitais, bens e serviços, liberdade assegurada pela eliminação de qualquer medida que possa prejudicá-la. Partindo dessa discussão, pretendo examinar quais os avanços institucionais já alcançados no sentido da criação de políticas que, concretamente, conduzam à abertura de fronteiras entre os países do Mercosul por meio das quais seus cidadãos - neste caso, os trabalhadores - possam se deslocar livremente e residir em seu local de trabalho. Para tanto, acredito que conhecer a experiência da União Europeia possa ser de grande utilidade.My proposal for this article is to discuss the free mobility of workers inside the Mercosul block, bearing in mind that this liberty, in the contrary of others issues that arise as essential aims to be reached in the integration process of the region, wasn't incorporated in the Assunção Treaty, signed in march 1991. This absence is revealing in the sense that the liberty of circulation of persons is one of the elements that show with more evidence the existence of an integration process as it affects directly the life of its citizens ensuring their free displacement inside the region and equal opportunities among nationals and no nationals. In the text of the above-mentioned Treaty, integration appears only in reference to the circulation of capital, goods and services, being this liberty safeguarded by the elimination of any obstacle which could damage this road. Enlarging this discussion, I intend to look up what institutional advances has been reached in the course of the process, in the sense of the inclusion of measures which lead to the opening of the borders of Mercosul countries through which its citizens - in our case, the workers - could move with liberty and could live in the place where they work. To discuss this point, I believe that the knowledge of European experience is of great utility.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a forma como algumas escolas de pensamento, representadas por figuras significativas, percebem no Brasil o tema da integração regional. O foco é a segunda metade do século XX, buscando compreender as concepções de projeção regional e internacional do país, que fundamentam as possibilidades de integração. Para isso, serão discutidos os seguintes temas: o papel do Estado, a visão de país, o nacionalismo, o desenvolvimento econômico e o subdesenvolvimento, o reconhecimento internacional e a percepção dos vizinhos. A ideia da especificidade frente aos países vizinhos é um elemento presente na obra de intelectuais e de formuladores de políticas. Ela se faz presente em muitos países, inclusive em outros dessa região. Buscaremos entender como essa ideia evoluiu no Brasil, chegando, nos anos 1980, à aceitação da existência de uma comunidade de interesses com os países do Cone Sul e da América do Sul.The aim of this article is to analyze the way some schools of thought represented by persons of renown look upon the issue of regional integration in Brazil. The focus is on the second half of the 20th century, seeking to understand the conceptions of the country's regional and international projection that ground the possibilities for integration. To this end, the following themes are discussed: the role of the State; the vision for the country; nationalism; economic development and underdevelopment; international recognition; and neighbors' perception. The idea of specificity in relation to neighboring countries is an element present in the work of intellectuals and policy-makers. It is also present in other countries, including in countries of this region. We endeavor to understand how this idea evolved in Brazil, culminating in the 1980s with the acceptance of the existence of a community of interests with the countries of the Southern Cone and of South America.

O trabalho analisa os fatores macro e microeconômicos que impulsionaram as recentes mudanças profundas registradas na relação comercial entre o Brasil e a Argentina, caracterizadas por um déficit argentino crescente. Conclui-se, do ponto de vista macro, que os comportamentos dos níveis de atividade econômica e do tipo de câmbio bilateral não são suficientes para explicar as transformações indicadas. São analisados, então, os fatores microeconômicos vinculados com um aprofundamento dos saldos negativos do intercâmbio bilateral de manufaturas de origem industrial, e uma diminuição dos saldos positivos dos demais itens (produtos primários, manufaturas de origem agropecuária e combustíveis) para a Argentina. As conclusões indicam que a evolução da relação comercial bilateral está fortemente vinculda com mudanças na esfera produtiva sofridas por ambas as nações. Isto, longe de sugerir uma situação fechada ou concluída, enfatiza a necessidade de coordenar futuras estratégias regionais para fortalecer um comércio do tipo intraindustrial que consolide a situação competitiva do Mercosul em relação a terceiros mercados.This work analizes the macro and microeconomic factors that led to recent transformations in the trade relations between Argentina and Brazil. The conclusions are that those transformations were strongly linked with the changes in the productive field that took place in each of both countries. But far from being a final situation, this work enphazises the necesity to coordinate futures strategies to strenghen an intraindustrial type of trade that could help to consolidate the competitive position of Mercosur in relation to third markets.

Pode-se verificar, desde o final da década de 1990, uma tendência de institucionalização da condicionalidade política em diversas instituições internacionais. Estas instituições têm tornado explícita a importância do respeito, por parte dos Estados participantes, ao Estado de direito, aos direitos humanos e à democracia; têm também criado mecanismos de controle, supervisão e promoção destes princípios. A forma como tais princípios têm sido institucionalizados, os instrumentos disponíveis para garantir sua aquiescência, a aquiescência efetiva e seu efeito sobre os Estados-membros variam de acordo com cada instituição. Este artigo analisa o caso da União Européia. Apesar do consenso sobre os valores democráticos entre seus membros fundadores, foi somente em 1997, com o Tratado de Amsterdã, que eles se tornaram uma condição formal para a participação no processo de integração. O presente artigo procura responder, primeiramente, como, e por que, a condicionalidade política tem sido institucionalizada na União Européia, explorando dois fatores em particular: 1) o processo de ampliação do processo de integração e 2) crises políticas específicas que ocorreram nos Estados-membros. Adicionalmente, o artigo indaga se a condicionalidade pode ser considerada um instrumento efetivo de promoção da democracia. Busca-se analisar se a intervenção a favor da democracia tem um efeito qualitativo sobre os regimes domésticos, ou seja, explora-se os limites do uso da condicionalidade política como um instrumento de promoção e defesa da democracia.Promotion Political conditionality has been institutionalized in many international institutions since the end of the 1990s. These institutions have been making it more explicit the importance of the respect, on the part of its participants, of the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy, and have been creating mechanisms of control and promotion of these principles. The form how these principles have been institutionalized, and the available instruments to guarantee their compliance, the effective compliance, and its effects upon Member-States varies with each institution. The present article analyses the case of the European Union. Despite the consensus about democratic values among its founding members, it was only in 1997, with the Treaty of Amsterdam, that they became a formal condition to participate in the process of integration. This article addresses firstly, how, and why political conditionality has been institutionalized in the European Union, exploring two factors in particular: the process of enlargement, and specific political crises. In addition, the article inquires whether political conditionality can be considered an effective instrument of democracy promotion. It analyses whether interventions in favor of democracy have a qualitative effect upon domestic governments, in other words, it explores the limits of the use of the political conditionality as an instrument of defense and promotion of democracy.

O estado da Flórida e seus produtores de laranja e de cana-de-açúcar colocam-se no centro do palco das relações econômicas entre os Estados Unidos e o Brasil e do drama da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA). Poderosos e persistentes, esses modestos interesses econômicos têm sua importância política amplificada pelo papel de pivô da Flórida nas recentes eleições presidenciais dos Estados Unidos. Aumentado pelo papel de pivô do estado no Colégio Eleitoral, os interesses dos setores de laranja e de cana-de-açúcar têm efetivamente restringido a autonomia do Executivo dos EUA. Este trabalho emprega a teoria de ratificação de acordos internacionais de Putnam e examina as contribuições de campanha dessas indústrias para explorar os desafios de ratificação de Nível II associado à influência política das principais forças protecionistas da Flórida. Este exame demonstra como os interesses faccionais e as instituições políticas podem se cruzar para ampliar a importância de indústrias com interesses estreitos e prescritos territorialmente, sob condições de alta incerteza eleitoral. Por fim, o artigo explora as implicações desses interesses inegociáveis sobre as relações EUA-Brasil e a política comercial brasileira.The state of Florida and its orange and sugarcane producers stand at the center-stage of United States - Brazil economic relations and the Free Trade in the Americas (FTAA) drama. Powerful and persistent, the political importance of these modest economic interests is amplified by Florida's pivotal role in United States' presidential elections of late. Magnified by the the state's pivotal role in the Electoral College, Florida orange and sugarcane interests have effectively restricted the autonomy of the U.S. Executive. This paper employs Putnam's(1988) international agreement ratification theory and examines these industries campaign contributions to explore the Level II ratification challenges associated with the political influence of Florida's primary protectionist forces. This examination demonstrates how factional interests and political institutions can intersect to amplify the political importance of narrow, territorially prescribed industries under conditions of high electoral uncertainty. Lastly, the article explores the implications of these intractable interests upon U.S.-Brazil relations and Brazilian trade policy.

Nenhum processo de integração regional está isento de críticas sobre o seu alegado déficit democrático e/ou institucional. A razão destes déficits é, freqüentemente, apontada como uma conseqüência da escassa accountability e da falta de transparência dos sistemas de decisão em nível regional. Os diferentes blocos regionais têm tentado responder a um ou ambos dos déficits em causa, mediante uma variedade de métodos e opções institucionais. A mais visível das fórmulas aplicadas é a criação e fortalecimento de um Parlamento regional - ou seja, supranacional. Este artigo pretende analisar, comparativamente, cinco Parlamentos regionais na Europa e na América Latina - o Parlamento Europeu, o Parlamento Latino-Americano, o Parlamento Centro-Americano, o Parlamento Andino e a Comissão Parlamentar Conjunta do Mercosul - com o objetivo de compreender o impacto que estas instituições têm tido no âmbito da representação regional, dos processos de decisão e do fortalecimento da accountability. As conclusões sugerem cinco fatores que os autores consideram pertinentes para a explicação das diferenças verificadas entre as duas regiões transatlânticas.Virtually no process of regional integration has been safe from the criticism of allegedly suffering from either democratic deficit, institutional deficit or both. These deficits, the argument goes, are the consequence of scarce accountability and the lack of transparency in regional decision-making. Different regional blocs have attempted in a variety of ways to confront one or both of these deficits, the most visible of which is the creation and empowerment of a regional parliament. This paper presents a comparative analysis of five of these institutions in Europe and Latin America - i.e. the European Parliament, the Latin American Parliament, the Central American Parliament, the Andean Parliament, and the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Mercosur - with the aim of understanding their impact on regional representation, decision-making and accountability. The conclusions pinpoint five plausible factors in accounting for the differences found across the Atlantic divide.

A elaboração da política externa brasileira é, segundo a Constituição de 1988, atribuída ao poder Executivo, restando ao Legislativo após negociações, a função de ratificar ou vetar os tratados internacionais. No entanto, mesmo reconhecendo a hegemonia do poder Executivo no processo decisório em matéria de política externa, acredito que o poder Legislativo tem uma participação efetiva no processo, ou seja, o comportamento dos parlamentares corresponde aos seus interesses. O papel de ambos poderes na formulação da política externa brasileira é mais complexo do que está estabelecido na Constituição. Nesse contexto, este artigo examina a relação entre os poderes Executivo e Legislativo na formulação da política externa relacionada com os acordos comerciais, tais como com o Mercosul e a Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA).According to the 1988 Constitution, the elaboration of Brazilian foreign policy is attributed to the executive branch, leaving the legislative branch the role of accepting or rejecting international treaties after the negotiations have taken place. Even though the executive has a greater role on the decision-making process, I believe that the legislative branch has an efficient participation on that process. That is, the behaviour of legislators correspond to their interests. The role of both branches in the formulation of Brazilian foreign policy is more complex than the attributions stated in the Constitution. In this context, this article evaluates the relation between the executive and the legislative branches in the formulation of Brazilian foreign policy related to trade agreements such as Mercosur and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

The paper aims to discuss the Latin American integration process with focus on the Brazilian positions, in order to understand the elements of continuity between the actions of the early years of the Republic, particularly the period of the Baron of Rio Branco (1902-1912), and the current years. There is a search for the roots of Brazilian policy towards regional integration, which in the eighties of the last century resulted in the Mercosur proposal. Brazilian positions in relation to its neighbors will be analyzed considering the experiments of policy coordination that sought to maximize the interests of the countries in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of regional integration has showed few developments regarding the comparison and the definition of criteria to evaluate cases. A frequent procedure is apply in another processes the criteria developed to the European case. As the integration model adopted in Europe is not repeated elsewhere in the world, this procedure can only lead to the same conclusions, the assessment that there are problems in the another processes, that their prospects are bad and that some cases can not even be characterized as an integration process. Therefore, it is necessary to establish criteria that can be applied universally and that assess the processes by their level of institutionalization, like it has been developed and adopted in Political Science for democratic regimes and party systems. This is an urgent task for systematic and comparative research in the field of regional integration. To face this task, the paper proposes criteria that is able to measure the institutionalization in different areas of integration and indicators for each criterion. Moreover, it does a comprehensive selection of the dimensions of analysis, in order to not privilege certain sphere or model of integration. Then, the criteria is applied to CAN, MERCOSUR, UNASUR and EU, considering the European process as one of the case studies, and not as parameter for the analysis. The results confirm this perspective, since the EU, unlike the expected, does not show the higher level of institutionalization in all the dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My proposal for this article is to discuss the free mobility of workers inside the Mercosul block, bearing in mind that this liberty, in the contrary of others issues that arise as essential aims to be reached in the integration process of the region, wasn't incorporated in the Assunção Treaty, signed in march 1991. This absence is revealing in the sense that the liberty of circulation of persons is one of the elements that show with more evidence the existence of an integration process as it affects directly the life of its citizens ensuring their free displacement inside the region and equal opportunities among nationals and no nationals. In the text of the above-mentioned Treaty, integration appears only in reference to the circulation of capital, goods and services, being this liberty safeguarded by the elimination of any obstacle which could damage this road. Enlarging this discussion, I intend to look up what institutional advances has been reached in the course of the process, in the sense of the inclusion of measures which lead to the opening of the borders of Mercosul countries through which its citizens — in our case, the workers — could move with liberty and could live in the place where they work. To discuss this point, I believe that the knowledge of European experience is of great utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyze the way some schools of thought represented by persons of renown look upon the issue of regional integration in Brazil. The focus is on the second half of the 20th century, seeking to understand the conceptions of the country's regional and international projection that ground the possibilities for integration. To this end, the following themes are discussed: the role of the State; the vision for the country; nationalism; economic development and underdevelopment; international recognition; and neighbors' perception. The idea of specificity in relation to neighboring countries is an element present in the work of intellectuals and policy-makers. It is also present in other countries, including in countries of this region. We endeavor to understand how this idea evolved in Brazil, culminating in the 1980s with the acceptance of the existence of a community of interests with the countries of the Southern Cone and of South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work analizes the macro and microeconomic factors that led to recent transformations in the trade relations between Argentina and Brazil. The conclusions are that those transformations were strongly linked with the changes in the productive field that took place in each of both countries. But far from being a final situation, this work enphazises the necesity to coordinate futures strategies to strenghen an intraindustrial type of trade that could help to consolidate the competitive position of Mercosur in relation to third markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political conditionality has been institutionalized in many international institutions since the end of the 1990s. These institutions have been making it more explicit the importance of the respect, on the part of its participants, of the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy, and have been creating mechanisms of control and promotion of these principles. The form how these principles have been institutionalized, and the available instruments to guarantee their compliance, the effective compliance, and its effects upon Member-States varies with each institution. The present article analyses the case of the European Union. Despite the consensus about democratic values among its founding members, it was only in 1997, with the Treaty of Amsterdam, that they became a formal condition to participate in the process of integration. This article addresses firstly, how, and why political conditionality has been institutionalized in the European Union, exploring two factors in particular: the process of enlargement, and specific political crises. In addition, the article inquires whether political conditionality can be considered an effective instrument of democracy promotion. It analyses whether interventions in favor of democracy have a qualitative effect upon domestic governments, in other words, it explores the limits of the use of the political conditionality as an instrument of defense and promotion of democracy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of Florida and its orange and sugarcane producers stand at the center-stage of United States - Brazil economic relations and the Free Trade in the Americas (FTAA) drama. Powerful and persistent, the political importance of these modest economic interests is amplified by Florida's pivotal role in United States' presidential elections of late. Magnified by the the state's pivotal role in the Electoral College, Florida orange and sugarcane interests have effectively restricted the autonomy of the U.S. Executive. This paper employs Putnam's(1988) international agreement ratification theory and examines these industries campaign contributions to explore the Level II ratification challenges associated with the political influence of Florida's primary protectionist forces. This examination demonstrates how factional interests and political institutions can intersect to amplify the political importance of narrow, territorially prescribed industries under conditions of high electoral uncertainty. Lastly, the article explores the implications of these intractable interests upon U.S.-Brazil relations and Brazilian trade policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtually no process of regional integration has been safe from the criticism of allegedly suffering from either democratic deficit, institutional deficit or both. These deficits, the argument goes, are the consequence of scarce accountability and the lack of transparency in regional decision-making. Different regional blocs have attempted in a variety of ways to confront one or both of these deficits, the most visible of which is the creation and empowerment of a regional parliament. This paper presents a comparative analysis of five of these institutions in Europe and Latin America - i.e. the European Parliament, the Latin American Parliament, the Central American Parliament, the Andean Parliament, and the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Mercosur - with the aim of understanding their impact on regional representation, decision-making and accountability. The conclusions pinpoint five plausible factors in accounting for the differences found across the Atlantic divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]