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In several Latin American countries, social violence has risen to warlike levels. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the extent of social violence and the new (informal) forms of governance generated by the so-called violent nonstate actors (VNSAs). Where a state’s forces fail to provide for the physical protection and social security of its citizens, some areas are governed by a mix of formal (vertical) and informal (horizontal) forms of governance, mixing state and nonstate actors. In these socially bounded spaces, nonstate actors produce and distribute public goods similarly as the state does. In this article, we explore how hybrid governance has appeared in the South American region, considering the operation of two regional VNSAs, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) in Brazil and the Bandas Criminales (BACRIM) in Colombia. We show that such VNSAs are significant agents for security governance, as they challenge preconceived notions of state authority (legitimacy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines patterns of change and continuity in Latin American foreign policies. It asks two interrelated questions: How can we conceptually and empirically account for foreign policy change? And why do states change their foreign policies in Latin America? To answer these questions, we used the results of a new expert survey on foreign policy preferences in the region between 1980 and 2014. The results we obtained using both linear and nonparametric specifications are very clear and consistent: presidential ideology is what matters the most. Simply put, a change in the ideology of the president produces a change in foreign policy that is almost equivalent in magnitude, all other theoretically relevant factors set to their means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article analyzes the rise of international transformative constitutionalism in Latin America and responds to some of the challenges to its legitimacy and effectiveness. It focuses on the practice of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), the decisions and procedures of which constitute a small, but vibrant and essential, part of a wider Latin American community of human rights—a diverse group of actors who confront violence, social exclusion, and weak institutions through legal means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1998, several Latin American presidents have attempted to create constituent assemblies, rewrite constitutions, and fundamentally shift power relations with varying levels of success. I argue that two variables have determined executive success. These are mobilizational leverage, or the ability to rally popular support behind the reform agenda, and institutional leverage, or the ability to convince the Judiciary or Electoral Council to allow a referendum to form a Constituent Assembly and sanction its supreme power. I examine this argument through process tracing cases of success (Chávez in Venezuela, Morales in Bolivia, and Correa in Ecuador) and a case of failure (Zelaya in Honduras), drawing on data from 118 elite interviews in Bolivia and Ecuador. This article contributes to the literature on executive-legislative relations and presidential power, explaining a process that allows presidents to navigate the institutions of democracy and enact ambitious reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the governance by criminals in Latin America and the Caribbean. Topics discussed include background on the police militias in Brazil, Colombia's history of criminal involvement in politics, overview of violence and criminal governance in Jamaica, and Venezuela's economic and political crisis.

Latin American Political Psychology (PPL) is a field of knowledge composed of multiple theoretical and methodological references. However, some theories were not included in its repertoire, such as Group Operational Conception of Pichon- Rivière (GOCP). The aim of this article is to discuss possible contributions of GOCP to PPL. As a method we carried out a theoretical study on the work of Pichon- Rivière and PPL. As results, 1) we found aspects that distanced PPL from GOCP, such as biased interpretations, or its non-mention; 2) we conducted theoretical and political approaches between GOCP and a key author of PPL, Martín- Baró; and 3) we translated the group operation of Pichon-Rivière to the PPL, elaborating a psycho-political cartography of the different social positions. We conclude that the repertoire elaborated by GOCP can contribute to the PPL in the constitution of a field of analysis of collectives and social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the answers of over fifty Latin American scholars to a survey as its foundation, this paper analyses the features of the global and Latin American context and presents some of the potential areas for its development over the coming decade. To do this, the number of poles in the system is considered along with the logics of cooperation and competition that predominate in the relations between countries. In addition, an analysis is made of how different countries define a 'region' in their foreign policy, and the reasons behind Brazil losing its leadership position and Mexico's potential role in the region are set out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reappraising cepalina import-substituting industrialisation (ISI) means exploring strategies associated with diagnoses and policy prescriptions, recognising that ideas and processes changed over time, that there was divergence between original diagnoses of development problems and policy interventions designed to resolve them, and that some strategies and outcomes attributed to ECLA were distant from original propositions. Section one locates the ECLA project within a stylised chronology. The second focusses on two sub-periods: (i) proto-cepalismo; (ii) the classic phase of cepalismo. The third re-evaluates the project, challenging contemporary and current opinions. The main findings emphasise continuities between the two sub-periods, arguing that current vilification of the project by the left and the right is/was myopic. Industrial growth was underway in some economies by/before the end of the nineteenth century; industrialisation may have occurred in some countries before 1940; and what had been achieved by the 1990s in parts of the continent was considerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature suggests that partisanship in Latin America is relatively weak. However, these findings have been based largely on a survey methodology that systematically underestimates partisanship. This study provides caution about measuring party identification when it is framed in a short-term time horizon and includes a filter question—as most comparative surveys do—since this tends to result in an underestimation of levels of partisanship in the region. In turn, surveys that rely on a question wording that is more consistent with early theories of voting behavior show that the proportion of voters who self-identify with a political party is larger than the literature assumed. The findings of this paper have broader implications for studies in comparative politics. They suggest that the existing literature on parties and party systems has underestimated the ability of political parties in Latin America to recruit and create strong linkages with the electorate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the concept of sovereignty or independence processes with reference to globalization. Topics discussed include historiography of Latin America, state independence in Latin American countries, independence in 19th and 20th century and historiographic debate on world politics. It further discusses history of New and Old World, colonialism in American societies, imperialism, influence of colonialism, cultural history in Europe in 20th century and political enlightenment.

The article offers information on the elections in Latin America in 2018. Topics discussed include presidential elections in the Latin American countries, changed political cycle because of political distrust, political disaffection in those countries, number of Latin Americans who participated in election polls and political campaigns over there. It further discusses democracy in Latin American countries, works of political party Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and antipolitical movements in the region.

This article aims four objectives about methodological aspects trough the main issues in Latin American Comparative Politics agenda: first, to rethink the useful­ness that comparative method can acquire; second, to explain the main strategies for discover how to describe through concepts; third, to analyze how to operationalize these concepts; an fourth, to analyze to what extent do the concepts serve to decode empirical situations, and vice versa. The article looks for contribute to the politic science epistemology at Latin America, spe­cifically about methodologies construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wave of diffusion of the Conditional Transfer Programs (CCTs) in Latin America generated a group of programs with common characteristics, but also certain divergences. This article offers a comparative look at the programs of three coun- tries: Chile, Colombia and Paraguay distinguishing their components and the internal coherence between aims and means. The findings show diversity in the programs, different levels of co- herence between the aims pursued and means used, as well as evidence of process of transfer among countries. All of it poses challenges for the comprehension of the social policy making process in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to represent and discredit the political actors and systems in Latin America throughout the international news in the on-line versions of Tagesschau, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel during 2016. The authors depict how stereotyped attributions and negative images are produced when introducing Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela. This results in a delegitimization of the political actors and systems, as well as a reproduction of the Latin American inferiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the oppression of scientists in Latin America. Infringement of the human rights of the scientists is the outcome of socio-political crises of the Latin American nations. Authoritarian governments do not favor the behavior of the scientists, including the rejection of autocratic rule, the quest for evidence, and the hatred for myths. They become the target for persecution as they are regarded as threats to the regime. A brief sketch of the oppression of several scientists from the whole world, including Archimedes, and Galileo Galilei is presented. Several professors in Brazil were given forceful retirements, in 1969.

The literature maintains that not all populisms are equal. Some are seen as projects of regeneration or democratisation because they would incorporate an excluded people; others are movements that would weaken democracy by promoting exclusion (xenophobia and racism). The former is "left-wing populism" while the latter is "right-wing populism". This paper shows that what is central to populism is its model of democracy, not whether it is situated on the right or the left. To do this, an evaluation is made of the democratic balance of populisms in three countries in Europe (Austria, France and Hungary) and three in Latin America (Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela). As will be shown, those of the right have no more contributed to the destruction of democracy than those on the left may be presented as democratising successes; but all represent a profound challenge to liberal democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Politics in Latin America is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research analyzes the state of Political Science research with a focus on Latin America. To this aim, an unpublished database is presented containing articles published in Spanish and Portuguese journals that are included in JCR or Scimago indexes. First of all, the results show a discipline which is dynamic, theoretically plural, mainly inclined to the study of classic issues within the discipline, and with some methodological failures. On the other hand, it is confirmed the existence of very few journals where to publish, so the creation of specialized ones seems urgent. Furthermore, our empirical findings point out to the necessity of including both under-researched countries and relevant yet underexplored topics (e. g. corruption) in the research agenda. Finally, this work raises the urgency of promoting cooperation at institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on history of gaitanism in popular culture of Colombia. Various topics discussed include populism in country's politics, importance of gaitanism in the Colombian history, political mobilization in 20th century, political language used in Colombian politics and bipartisanship. It further discusses history of conflicts between country's population and oligarchy, political movements in Colombia, gaitanism in 1940s and its existence in political history of Latin American countries.

This article contributes to the current debate on social movements and popular politics in Latin America by exploring the trajectory of organizations within the unemployed workers movement in Argentina, also known as the piqueteros. Analysts agree that the recent history of this movement is characterized by a pronounced decline due to closing political opportunities. I suggest that a shift in the level of analysis toward organizational dynamics indicates a more complex scenario. While the influence of the movement as a political actor has declined, some piquetero organizations have in some aspects strengthened. I argue that this strengthening took place not despite the post-2003 context, but rather because of it. I advocate for an alternative conceptualization of piquetero groups, emphasizing their immersion in a particular political context and culture rather than their separation from it. I use interviews, participant observation, databases of contentious events, and a diverse literature to sustain my claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on structured interviews with fifteen of the main national observation groups of Latin America, shows that the most active civil society groups have been applying a variety of tools involving new information and communication technologies since 2005 to conduct what is known in English as crowdsourced election observation. According to those interviewed, the new technologies have mainly served to raise awareness among the general population of the importance of elections, to have people involved in observation activities, and to introduce election observation to areas where it would have been impracticable without these new technologies. Crowdsourced election observation now faces the challenge of setting a commonly accepted standard for verifying the information potentially collected by an anonymous crowd of observers who might not have received enough training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, some rightist governments in Latin America have adhered to a strict market orientation while others have shown less attachment to doctrinaire neoliberal policies, a puzzle as rightists are expected to favor minimal government intervention in the economy. In an environment over the past two decades in which market-oriented policies, in general, have grown increasingly unpopular with many Latin Americans, we contend that rightists have less political cover to endorse neoliberal policies. Using panel data for eighteen Latin American countries from 1995 to 2015, we find that, because of the clarity of responsibility that occurs under political mandates and the unpopularity of market reforms, mandate-holding rightist governments will tend to go against their ideological preferences and decrease neoliberal policies. Our findings indicate that as presidential vote margins increase and responsibility for unpopular economic policies becomes clearer, rightist executives will be less willing to support such policies, but only to a point. The results suggest that clarity of responsibility can influence presidential decision-making concerning unpopular policies, especially microeconomic policies, but this influence diminishes as presidents become more electorally secure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early advocates of decentralization lauded it as a strategy for strengthening democratic institutions, but later scholarship has emphasized decentralization's negative consequences, especially for political parties. This article argues that the impact of political decentralization on established parties is shaped by the context in which the reforms occur, with poor economic performance and limited programmatic differentiation making parties more vulnerable to the challenges posed by decentralization. The article explores how decentralization under such circumstances has contributed to party decay in Latin America, where declining support for established parties has been significant, in some places undermining democratic stability and governability. The article employs cross-national time-series analysis and case studies. The quantitative evidence indicates that political decentralization weakens existing parties in contexts of poor economic conditions and little ideological differentiation in the party system. Case studies elaborate the processes through which decentralizing reforms together with economic conditions and party linkages affect party systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constitutional provisions regarding presidential re-election have been modified in several Latin American countries in recent years. In some countries, these changes put the existence of democracy at risk. This article uses the principal-agent approach to analyze the role of the constitutional judge in presidential re-election as an accountability mechanism. It finds that immediate reelection in democracies of strong presidentialism can be a perverse mechanism that sharpens the concentration of power and deteriorates the welfare of the citizens instead of making politicians accountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the possible links between regional governance and global governance from a regional perspective. It presents and develops a typology of linkages that include: (1) irrelevance; (2) conflict; (3) cooperation; and (4) harmonic relations. Moreover, it suggests three alternative explanations to make sense of the linkages as a function of the nature of the issue area of regional and global governance, the role of pivotal states, and the importance of ideational factors and the diffusion of norms. It succinctly refers to the Latin American experience as an illustration of the nexus between regional governance and global governance in a comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay deals with the challenges presented to the left -especially the Latin American left- at the beginning of the 21st century in their struggle against domination. According to the author, If there is one thing that can be said with a degree of certainty about the difficulties currently experienced by the progressive forces in Latin America, it is that those difficulties stem from the fact that their governments have tackled neither the Constitution issue nor the hegemony issue. The idea of domination, the forms of struggle and the status of globalization are discussed in the first place, to finally analyze the situation of the left governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational models of public policies in science, technology and innovation (STI) show the profile of the State and the role performed by the different actors, whether public or private. Consequently, giving an account of recent STI policies involves focusing on the tools used by the State to position and guide institutions according to the predominant interests and views in the political and economic context. The article analyzes STI policy instruments from the viewpoint of their specific objectives, thereby facilitating the approach to interpreting policy profiles. It studies the manifestations of this phenomenon in Latin America in particular, accounting for general trends and specific cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ensayos - Revista de Economía is the property of Ensayos Revista de Economia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Diffusion theories have paid little attention to the dissemination of political institutions, so far. Moreover, they have offered better explanations of processes of adoption than adaptation ones. The creation of political institutions in Latin America after the wars of independence provides an excellent opportunity for theory-building while correcting these biases. The USA presidential model was adopted by Latin American countries during the xix century, but with certain adaptations, in the sense that the "copies" had fundamental differences from the original paradigm. Latin American presidentialism grants the president a significantly greater role in the dynamics of government than the American one. Ideational factors explain not only the initial choice for presidentialism; but they also contribute to explaining the meaning and intensity of the deep mutation experienced by the Philadelphia model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Intersecoes: Revista de Estudios Interdisciplinares is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The fundamental idea developed within this paper --he result of a thorough study of the recent bibliography on the relationships between the Komintern and Latin America-- is that there exist new conditions, following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in an attempt to approach, upon less passionate and less compromised bases, from the standpoint of the political parties, the history relevant to analyze the political cultures in Latin America during the XX Century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article assesses and compares the MERCOSUR Parliament, the Andean Parliament, and the Latin American Parliament as instruments to insert political representation and parliamentarians in their respective integration projects. It is argued that the development of regional parliaments in Latin America, however, has not produced substantial changes in regional decisionmaking processes, which remain the exclusive domain of intergovernmental or interpresidential exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the political laws in Latin America related to presidential vacancies. The author comments on the recent political turmoil and instability in various Latin American governments and examines the utilization of constitutional laws regarding parliamentary censure of the president.

This article discusses the feelings of vengeance experienced by victims of crime and violence. The author comments on the military dictatorships of Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s and describes the clashes between the governments and political dissenters. An examination of the violations of human rights at the time is also provided.

The article discusses the political participation of women in coalition governments of Andean countries, including charts and statistics. Topics discussed include the number of seats occupied by women in legislative bodies; the lack of opportunity for women to enter and participate in cabinets; and a discussion of the role of women presidents in Latin American politics and executive branches. The author concludes with a discussion of the need to remove gender discrepancies from Latin American political institutions, particularly in cabinets, and to seek gender equity in Latin American government.

The article explores the ideological foundations of the New Right in Latin America. According to the author, free market thinking thrives among regional elites despite more than a decade of policies privileging state-led development and social welfare. Countries in the region are advised to undo the policies advocated by progressive governments after they were embraced by business leaders and politicians.

El artículo discurre sobre la historia de América Latina desde fines del periodo colonial hasta hoy en día. El autor comenta sobre los movimientos anti-imperialistas por independencia en varios países latinoamericanos de 1806 a 1830 y examina los procesos de democratización en la región.

El artículo discurre sobre la historia de América Latina desde el periodo colonial hasta hoy en día. El autor comenta sobre los estudios historiográficos de la región y examina la relación entre la historia y los factores socioeconómicos, socioculturales y políticos que contribuyeron a la historia latinoamericana.