CIAO DATE: 06/2011
Volume: 3, Issue: 1
January 2011
Political Parties and Government Coalitions in the Americas (PDF)
George Tsebelis, Eduardo Alemán
This paper focuses on the process of coalition formation in presidential systems. It shows that party positions and institutions influence the formation of government coalitions. We argue that presidents will tend to include parties positioned close to their policy positions in their cabinets, and will be more inclined to do it when relative institutional authority is more advantageous to congress. We corroborate our arguments with data from 13 presidential countries in the Americas.
Micro-social and Contextual Sources of Democratic Attitudes in Latin America (PDF)
Eduardo Salinas, John A. Booth
Many Latin American countries democratized between 1975 and 2000, and research has confirmed that contemporary Latin Americans hold democratic political attitudes. Using AmericasBarometer surveys of 18 countries from 2008, we examine the commitment of Latin Americans to three democratic attitudes – preference for democracy over other forms of government, support for general participation rights, and tolerance for participation by system critics. We also explore the impact of personal resources, crime and corruption, evaluation of system performance, social capital, and the sociopolitical context on democratic attitudes. A preference for democracy and support for citizens’ participation rights are strong, but tolerance is lower than the other attitudes. Evidence is found for acculturation – that Latin Americans acquire democratic attitudes by living in democratic regimes and through education.
Considering Local Democratic Transition in Latin America (PDF)
Gary Bland
Drawing from well-known theories of democracy and democratic transition, this essay considers the transition to local democracy in Latin America. It raises a central question: Given the landmark decentralization of the past three decades, what constitutes local democracy in the region today and in which countries can we say it exists? Core considerations in comparing local democracy and national democracy are discussed. I present the concept of “minimum decentralization” and, using this framework, posit six procedural and institutional conditions for defining local democracy. Eighteen systems are evaluated against these conditions at the municipal and intermediate levels of government. Despite the real transfer of authority in many countries, and though several Latin American countries have established or nearly established local democracies, only a few of the local systems can be considered democratic. Though the conclusion is somewhat counter-intuitive, explanations for the slow development of decentralization and local democracy are considered.
The Right in "New Left" Latin America (PDF)
James David Bowen
Over the past decade, there has been a surge of “new Left” governments in Latin America, yet polling data shows no comparable shift to the left among the general Latin American population. If electorates have not followed their political leaders to the left, then it is likely that new right-wing political actors will emerge to compensate for the leftward shift in Latin American politics. I propose a research agenda for studying right-wing politics in light of the current wave of left-leaning governments in the region. I argue that we should focus on four main areas of right-wing politics: the political agenda of right-wing groups; their political organization; their power capability; and the institutional environment in which they operate. This agenda requires that we move beyond the traditional focus on right-wing political parties and focus on right-wing organizations at all levels of formal politics, as well as groups that operate outside the formal political arena
Kathryn Hochstetler
The books discussed in this review essay all investigate the same basic phenomenon: presidents who do not complete their terms in office, but who are removed without open democratic breakdown. The essay traces the conceptual frameworks used, as they shifted from impeachment to the broader presidential breakdown. It evaluates explanations of the causes of presidential breakdown, and makes suggestions for further research on how the presidential regime type functions. The essay concludes with a call for more empirical investigation of the consequences of presidential breakdown.