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11. The Politics of Polarization: Governance and Party System Change in Latin America, 1990–2010

Author:
Sam Handlin
Publication Date:
11-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
What are the causes and implications of polarization in new democracies? During Latin America's “Left Turn” period, highly polarized party systems emerged in some countries–Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador–but not the rest of the region. This paper proposes a theory to explain variation, centered on the presence of electorally relevant parties of the left in the pre-Left Turn period and, most critically, the quality of governance in that period. Poor governance created opportunities for partisan actors on the left to politicize a second dimension of political contestation, anti - systemic versus systemic positions on the design and operation of the state, and thus chart alternative paths to electoral viability that required little left - right programmatic moderation. This dynamic empowered radical party factions and drove polarizing dynamics in party systems. High quality governance, in contrast, gave left parties little choice but to moderate their programs in search of electoral viability. This dynamic empowered moderate party factions and drove centripetal dynamics in party systems. Empirically, the paper tests these arguments through a broad overview of the case universe and in - depth case studies of Venezuela and Brazil.
Topic:
Geopolitics
Political Geography:
America, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, and El Salvador

12. Elections in Latin America 2009–2011: A Comparative Analysis

Author:
Manuel Alcántara
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper addresses from a comparative perspective the national elections (legislative and presidential) held between 2009 and 2011 in seventeen Latin American countries. There are five key issues that guide this analysis: the institutional conditions of electoral competition, the electoral offer, election results, party systems, and post-electoral executive-legislative relations. The political consequences of these electoral processes—except perhaps in the cases of Honduras and Nicaragua, where some minor negative trends have arisen—reveal a pattern of apparent normality and political alternation, with a change in the presidential elite and winning proposals that were articulated via institutions. The paper concludes by outlining how countries in the region have successfully overcome challenges of a varying nature and importance, that until recently generated a degree of uncertainty in their respective political systems.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America, Nicaragua, and Honduras

13. Amérique latine. Political Outlook 2011

Author:
Mathilde Arrigoni, Cecilia Baeza, Ernesto Zadillo Ponce de Léon, Doris Buu-Sao, Maya Colombo, Olivier Dabène, Marie Doucey, Guillaume Fontaine, Marie-Laure Geoffray, Erica Guevara, Marie-Esther Lacuisse, Thierry Noël, Kevin Parthenay, Gustavo Pastor, Camila Minerva Rodriguez Tavárez, and Adriana Urrutia
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Le Political Outlook 2011 de l’Amérique latine est une publication de l’Observatoire politique de l’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes (Opalc) du CERI-Sciences Po. Il prolonge la démarche du site www. opalc.org en offrant des clefs de compréhension d’un continent en proie à des transformations profondes. Des informations complémentaires à cette publication sont disponibles sur le site.
Topic:
Markets, Political Economy, Politics, History, Governance, and Finance
Political Geography:
Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua, Caribbean, Haiti, and Chile

14. The New Role of Latin America in Iran's Foreign Policy

Author:
Saideh Lotfian
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The present article intends to explore discernible shift in Iran's foreign policy toward Latin American countries in recent years. Iran's relations with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and more recently, Brazil, have grown warmer in recent years. The ever-increasing scale and scope of diplomatic ties and bilateral economic cooperation agreements between Iran and these Latin American states, most of whom pursue generally radical, anti-US policies, demonstrate the changing orientation in the Iranian policy as well as in the dynamics of the Latin American politics. The emergence of an Iranian president in 2005 with a populist outlook and pronounced anti-US/Anti-Western rhetoric has facilitated the closer ties between Iran and the leftist Latin American governments. This aspect of the Iranian policy has drawn both domestic criticism and outside opposition, particularly from the United States. Given this, a major question that could be raised is whether the new trend will be a long term feature of Iranian foreign policy or a temporary, transient one, especially taking into account the major role played by the personality of these countries' leaders in their policymaking. A related question is whether these heads of states will be able to create the necessary institutions, processes, and coordination mechanisms to remain in place even after they leave office. The author looks at the recent developments in these politicoeconomic relations, and tries to examine the degree of long-term resilience of Tehran's current involvement in Latin America. The main conclusion of the paper is that for as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran feels the need to look for countervailing force in its ongoing conflict with the US and the West, the current policies in seeking close political and economic ties with the anti-Western and radical Latin American states, as part of a larger coalition of like-minded developing countries, will continue.
Political Geography:
Iran, Brazil, Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

15. Political Solidarity, Cultural Survival, and the Institutional Design of Autonomy in Nicaragua: From Heterogenous, Multiethnic Spaces to National Homelands

Author:
Juliet Hooker
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyzes autonomy regimes in Latin America, or rather the lack thereof. Autonomy is primarily conceived as a means of enabling minority groups that are spatially concentrated to gain control over their local affairs. Autonomy has been relative absent from the models of multiculturalism adopted in Latin America at the end of the twentieth century. Nicaragua is one of the few countries in the region (as well as one of the first) where territorial political autonomy for regions inhabited by Afro-descendant and indigenous groups were adopted by the national state and enshrined at the level of constitutional law. One of the most distinctive (and contested) elements of the model of regional autonomy adopted in Nicaragua is its multiethnic character. This paper explores the future of autonomy in Nicaragua, mainly in terms of the question of whether multiethnic regional models of autonomy can best accomplish the goals of promoting solidarity between groups, enabling the preservation of minority cultures, and making possible meaningful political self-government when multiple subordinated groups are present in the same geographic space. Alternatively, are these aims better achieved through the creation of separate national homelands for each ethnic/racial group? Is a model of overlapping, multiple autonomies a better option? These are key questions regarding the future of autonomy that indigenous and Afro-descendant groups are currently confronting in Nicaragua. The central focus of the paper is thus to consider how Nicaragua's experiences with autonomy complicate the assumptions and prescriptions about the institutional design of autonomy for minority cultural groups in theories of multiculturalism.
Topic:
Political Theory, Governance, and Political Power Sharing
Political Geography:
Latin America and Nicaragua

16. From declaration to real protection: Biodiversity and local participation in the management of four protected areas in Nicaragua

Author:
Helle Munk Ravnborg
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This report presents the results of comparative research regarding local participation, floristic biodiversity and local knowledge of plants conducted in four protected areas in Nicaragua. The research has been financed as part of a Danish support programme for the environmental sector in Nicaragua, under the auspices of the programme management committee chaired by the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
Latin America, Nicaragua, and Dutch

17. Seasonal Migration and Early Childhood Development

Author:
Karen Macours and Renos Vakis
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper provides unique evidence of the positive consequences of seasonal migration for investments in early childhood development. We analyse migration in a poor shockprone border region in rural Nicaragua where it offers one of the main household income diversification and risk coping strategies. IV estimates show, somewhat surprisingly, that mother's migration has a positive effect on early cognitive development. We attribute these findings to changes in income and to the intrahousehold empowerment gains resulting from mother's migration, which offset potential negative ECD effects from temporary lack of parenting. This paper, hence, illustrates how increased opportunities in seasonal migration due to higher South–South mobility might positively affect early childhood development and as such long term poverty reduction.
Topic:
Health, Migration, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Nicaragua

18. Discourses on Violence in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua: Social Perceptions in Everyday Life

Author:
Sebastian Huhn
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Central America has the reputation of being a violent region with high crime rates, youth gangs, drug traffic, and ubiquitous insecurity. Politicians, the media, and social scientists in and outside the region often claim that the societies are in complete agreement with their judgment of the situation and that all society members are calling for law and order and social segregation. Focusing on Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, the paper analyzes the social perception of violence and crime. On the basis of essays written by secondary school students and interviews with citizens from all walks of life in the three countries, the paper points out how elite arguments on violence and crime are translated into everyday life, and what society members suggest be done to deal with these problems. The sources prove that there are noticeable hegemonic discourses on violence and crime in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Simultaneously, a majority of the respondents call for social and integrative solutions rather than the so-called “iron fist.” The repressive trend in Central American policies therefore does not necessarily receive the presumed affirmation asserted by many authorities on and in the region.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Latin America, Central America, and Nicaragua

19. Turning to the Left? Understanding Some Unexpected Events in Latin America

Author:
Carlos M. Vilas
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela are currently ruled by governments that are typically considered to be on the left of the political spectrum due to their progressive, reformist stances. Together, these states account for almost two thirds of Latin America's population and roughly half of its combined GDP. In the 2006 presidential election in Mexico, the candidate who shared the political views of the aforementioned states was defeated by less than percent in a contested turnout.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Latin America, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia

20. Accommodating Indigenous Peoples within the Human Rights Regime:The Case of Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua

Author:
Amy E. Eckert
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
Some critics allege that the human rights regime is based upon the values of liberal individualism and therefore inappropriate for communities that do not share a commitment to these values (Pollis and Schwab 1979). Such critics characterize human rights as being either irrelevant because of the lack of fit between liberal individualism and more community-based cultures or, even worse, as an imperialist tool in the hands of the West. However, the individual rights that are secured by the international human rights regime can be used for a variety of different purposes, including both liberal and non-liberal ends. A person, or a group of persons, may use the individual freedoms secured by international human rights treaties to express opinions that are entirely inconsistent with, or even in certain respects contrary to, liberal political ideals. To restrict the rights of this individual to the expression of liberal ideals would be, ultimately, inconsistent with the idea of freedom underlying these rights. Because liberalism values the autonomy of the individual (and, arguably, the autonomy of the community) above that individual's willingness to embrace any particular ideas, a liberal approach to human rights enables individuals and communities to utilize their rights and freedoms in a broad manner of ways. Recent progress in the area of indigenous rights underscores the extent to which the rights secured by the international human rights regime, though expressed in liberal individualistic terms, can nevertheless be used to secure non-liberal communitarian goals.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Central America and Nicaragua