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292. Conference report: New Power Relations in Latin America and their Global Influence
- Author:
- Augusto Varas
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Significant changes have taken place in the distribution of political power in Latin American countries over the past decade, at both national and hemispheric level. A growing trend toward trans-regionalisation is evident in the political and trade relations of these countries. Changes in regional power dynamics have been further hastened as Latin American countries have distanced themselves from the United States. Moreover, the weakness of US hemispheric policy, resulting from the loss of strategic regional influence, has been compounded by the political and ideological changes in Latin America over the past decade.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Globalization, Political Economy, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Latin America
293. Broken Promises, Postponed Commitments
- Author:
- Rui Graça Feijó
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies
- Abstract:
- The First Republic was a short period in Portuguese History which, nevertheless, left deep marks on the social and political tissue of the country. It was marred by instability. The political elite of the time recanted on their defense of "universal suffrage" and thus deprived the regime of a much needed popular base of support. The Second Republic that emerged from the Carnation Revolution instituted a democratic regime based on universal suffrage, and enshrined in its Constitution provisions for popular participation in a much wider scale than it has effectively offered up to the present. This manifests itself in the absence of an effective Regional level of power as well as in poorly endowed municipalities, and is reflected in the lowering of popular confidence in Portuguese Democracy shown in consecutive surveys. The capacity of the Second Republic to develop the principles of democratic participation granted in the Constitution is a test to the present decade, failing what a Third Republic may be looming in the horizon.
- Topic:
- Economics, Political Economy, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Dominican Republic, and Portugal
294. Controlling conflict resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Author:
- Ruben de Koning
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- The political economy of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is central to sustaining the conflict in the east of the country. Transforming it is a priority in order to alleviate the conflict and suffering that it fuels. In an attempt to ensure that conflict minerals—minerals sourced from militia controlled mines—do not enter the legal supply chain, industrial actors, the Congolese Government and outside donors have established schemes to trace minerals such as cassiterite and coltan back to the mines of origin.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Corruption, Political Economy, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
295. Redistribution and the Political Economy of Education: An Analysis of Individual Preferences in OECD Countries
- Author:
- Marius R. Busemeyer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The issue of skill formation features prominently in the literature on the political economy of redistribution. But surprisingly, the study of the micro foundations of education policy preferences has largely been ignored so far. This paper provides a first step in this direction, relying on survey data for a large number of OCED countries. Challenging the assumptions of established political economy models of the formation of education preferences, it is shown that the individual position on the income scale is not a strong predictor of support for increasing public spending on education. The reason for this non-finding is that the association between income and preferences varies across countries and institutional contexts. The core hypothesis of the paper is that levels of economic inequality and the degree of stratification of the education system strongly affect and shape the redistributive political economy of education on the micro level. The empirical part of the paper employs a two-stage hierarchical model specification to provide evidence for this claim.
- Topic:
- Education, Political Economy, Poverty, and Social Stratification
- Political Geography:
- Europe
296. The Historical Turn in Democratization Studies: A New Research Agenda for Europe and Beyond
- Author:
- Giovanni Capoccia and Daniel Ziblatt
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The paper lays the theoretical and methodological foundations of a new historically-minded approach to the comparative study of democratization, centered on the analysis of the creation, development and interaction of democratic institutions. Historically, democracy did not emerge as a singular coherent whole but rather as a set of different institutions, which resulted from conflicts across multiple lines of social and political cleavage that took place at different moments in time. The theoretical advantage of this approach is illustrated by highlighting the range of new variables that come into focus in explaining democracy's emergence. Rather than class being the single variable that explains how and why democracy came about, we can see how religious conflict, ethnic cleavages, and the diffusion of ideas played a much greater role in Europe's democratization than has typically been appreciated. Above all, we argue that political parties were decisive players in how and why democracy emerged in Europe and should be at the center of future analyses.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Political Economy, and History
- Political Geography:
- Europe
297. President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- In the World Leaders Forum address entitled, Austerity vs. Stimulus: Lithuanian Experience, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will discuss the challenges facing Lithuania, and her short and long-term goals for building a sustainable and fast-growing economy.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Lithuania and Balkans
298. The Macroeconomics of Development without Throughput Growth
- Author:
- Jonathan M. Harris
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- Serious discussion has begun of policies to promote the goal of increasing wellbeing without material growth. Moving towards this goal requires a profound reorientation of macroeconomic theory. Importantly, the call by ecological economists to move away from traditional growth-oriented models comes at a moment when standard macroeconomics is in considerable turmoil. The financial crisis of 2008/2009 seriously undermined the basis for mainstream macroeconomics and brought renewed attention to various forms of Keynesian analysis and policy previously regarded as outdated.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
299. Russia's modernization reloaded: Political constraints on economic development
- Author:
- Katri Pynnöniemi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Rumour has it that prior to his first visit to Beijing in spring 2008, President Medvedev instructed officials at the Ministry of Trade and Development to take a picture of Moscow that would aptly convey Russia's drive for modernization and innovation to his Chinese hosts. In carrying out his orders, employees from the ministry spent two months looking for a suitable place to photograph, but it is not known whether they were successful in their quest or not. Perhaps the story is only apocryphal, and no such order was ever given. Nevertheless, the anecdote has sown the seeds of doubt in the minds of the country's current leadership that there is actually not that much to see when it comes to the campaign for the 'technological modernization' of Russia.
- Topic:
- Development, Emerging Markets, Markets, Political Economy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, and Moscow
300. Die Herausforderung lokaler Vielfalt jenseits der westlichen Welt
- Author:
- Anke Draude and Sonja Neuweiler
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
- Abstract:
- In this paper we intend to examine how postcolonial approaches can be used productively for governance research. The research of the research center (SFB) 700 focuses mainly on areas of limited statehood in postcolonial settings. Postcolonial theories are relevant to this research because they critique the application of Western categories to non-Western contexts. Eurocentric conceptions of governance tend to see the development of Western modernity as a norm by which social phenomena in the non-Western world are measured. By employing such a conception, SFB 700 risks overlooking the diversity of local governance configurations. In this paper we explore the potential of postcolonial critique, when applied to governance research, to better capture these alternative developments in non-Western contexts. The postcolonial discourse focuses on a variety of social, cultural and political developments in postcolonial settings. As a result, it seems particularly qualified to provide insights into concrete governance phenomena in the postcolonial world and to reveal the contingency of Western ideas about governance. To what extent can postcolonial approaches in the humanities and social sciences help us understand the geographical, institutional, and social diversity of governance in postcolonial areas of limited statehood?
- Topic:
- Political Economy, Post Colonialism, Political Theory, and Governance