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31. Democracy, Parties and Political Finance in Latin America

Author:
Eduardo Posada-Carbó
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper tries to link the topic of political finance to the wider question of democracy and political parties in Latin America. By doing so, it aims at providing a conceptual framework within which the subject of political finance could acquire some centrality, hitherto missing in both the academic literature and current debates. The first section examines the extent to which, in spite of renewed democratic developments in Latin America during the last two decades, dominant views of democracy in the region continue to neglect and even undermine the significance of political parties and elections in the workings of democracy. This is followed by a discussion of how prevalent concepts of democracy can impinge on the course of political reform. Admittedly any attempt at establishing such a link is fraught with difficulties, and I only venture a few suggestions by looking at the debate among opinion makers and legislators regarding the prospects for political reform in a single country: Colombia. In the last section, I discuss how public funding—a trend visible in most Latin American countries, apparently adopted to fight corruption and to guarantee equality—may be affecting political parties and party systems in the region. A central, underlying assumption of this paper is that ideas are paramount in shaping the course of policy making, thus conditioning any process of political reform.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Colombia and Latin America

32. Democracy and Populism in Latin America

Author:
Ignacio Walker
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
There appears to be an inherent tension between populism, old and new, and the institutions of representative democracy. This paper focuses on those intrinsic contradictions through a systematic analysis of old and new populism and of its relationship with political democracy. At the core of those tensions is the question of personalization versus institutionalization of power. “Old populism,” as I term it, appears as the most salient and paradigmatic Latin American response to the crisis of oligarchic rule in the 1930s and 1940s. The continuing process of “desoligarquización” may help us to explain the emergence of “neopopulism.” In contrast to old populism, which emerged in the middle of an authoritarian wave, neopopulism has emerged in the middle of a democratic wave, and thus out of the dynamics of electoral democracy. No doubt neopopulist leaders have a formal democratic legitimacy. However, neopopulist regimes appeal to the superior quality of the leader, who appears as the redeemer and the embodiment of the people and the nation. Populism is not the real problem in Latin America; rather, the real problem is the factors that cause populism, namely, the persistence of poverty and inequality, and the decomposition of traditional political institutions and elites in the region. Finally, I shall argue that Hugo Chávez is not Latin America, and Latin America is not Chávez. He may be the most visible and strident political figure, but he is not the most representative one. In fact, he is the exception and not the rule.
Topic:
Civil Society and Government
Political Geography:
Latin America

33. Institutions and Politicians: An Analysis of the Factors that Determine Presidential Legislative Success

Author:
Manuel Alcántara and Mercedes García Montero
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This study questions the level of influence that different Latin American presidents have on the making of laws. In order to delimit this analysis, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect decision making in Latin American parliaments. Many of the theoretical approaches that tackle the study of decision making within legislative bodies maintain that the laws that arise from this decisional process, in addition to depending on the institutional organization of the parliament itself, depends on the political actors taking part, on their strategies when adapting to this institutional framework, and on their interests as well as on their collective and individual preferences.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Latin America

34. The Durability of Constitutions in Changing Environments: Explaining Constitutional Replacements in Latin America

Author:
Gabriel L. Negretto
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Given the costs entailed in replacing a constitution, most works on political institutions assume that constitutions are a stable set of rules that become self-enforcing over time. The durability of constitutions is, however, subject to variation. I argue that this variation depends on specific institutions and on the relative stability of the political environment that the constitution is supposed to regulate. Using a duration analysis of constitutions in eighteen Latin American countries between 1946 and 2000, this paper finds that while the lifespan of constitutions is negatively affected by political and social instability, institutions that diffuse power and make possible the flexible adaptation of the constitution to changing circumstances decrease the risk of constitutional replacement. It also shows that for the Latin American region, the durability of constitutions tends to decrease rather than increase over time.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America

35. Political Crises and Democracy in Latin America Since the End of the Cold War

Author:
Luis E. González
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper addresses current problems of democratic instability in continental Latin America, assuming that all its countries have been at least “minimalist” democracies during the years 2000–07. To identify essential factors leading to instability, it focuses on the countries' most recent and acute political crises. It considers two periods in the post–cold war years: 1992–99 and 2000–07. The number of crises is similar in both periods, but their nature changes, from mostly “traditional” crises in the first (essentially elite-led affairs) to mostly non-traditional crises in the second (with crucial participation by the population). The data suggest that the main causes of the 2000–07 crises were already in place before the 1990s. Building on the available literature this leads to an explanation based on two medium-to-long term processes: the accumulation of unsatisfied expectations during a generation or so, and the still-precarious nature of these minimalist democracies. A cluster analysis strongly confirms that this model can explain both acute crises and their opposite, cases of democratic consolidation. The model also produces some post-dictions on electoral volatility (empirically confirmed), and some predictions for the years 2008–15. The discussion leads to some conclusions concerning prospects for democracy in the region. First, in spite of the crises, minimalist democracy is helping to impel democracy beyond minimalism. Second, to define “democracy,” it is not necessary to include stronger political requisites than those of “minimalism,” nor socioeconomic requisites. Both are needed, in any case, merely to stabilize minimalist democracies.
Topic:
Cold War, Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America

36. Regime Legacies and Democratization: Explaining Variance in the Level of Democracy in Latin America, 1978—2004

Author:
Scott Mainwaring and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In this paper we analyze the level of democracy achieved by 19 Latin American countries after 1977, in the period between the transitions from authoritarian rule and 2004. Our study shows enduring regime legacies: despite authoritarian interruptions in the past, the best predictor of the current level of democracy is the country's experience with competitive politics during the “first” (1900–44) and the “second” (1945–77) waves (and counter waves) of democratization. We document the impact of regime legacies using a fixed-effects vector decomposition model. Our finding resembles, but does not strictly confirm, theoretical claims about “path dependence” in democratization.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America

37. Understanding the Politics of Latin America's Plural Lefts (Chávez/Lula): Social Democracy, Populism, And Convergence on the Path to a Post-Neoliberal World

Author:
John D. French
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The division of Latin America's contemporary left into the “populist” or “social democratic” originated as a disciplinary move by neoliberals. Such dichotomous categorizations derive from an impoverished notion of the political in which a positivist sphere of exalted expertise and enlightenment, based on reason, rationality, and objectivity, is juxtaposed against a lesser sphere of emotion, passion, and personalism. This underlying dualism, which derives from liberalism, permeates academic disciplines and crosses lines of ideology while tracking established markers of hierarchical distinction in a region profoundly divided along multiple lines of race, class, and cultural capital. Politics is better understood as embodied work, done with words, based on real and imagined relationships between flesh-and-blood humans as they are inserted into a larger cultural and symbolic universe.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, Imperialism, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America

38. Digital Poverty: Concept and Measurement, with an Application to Peru

Author:
Roxana Barrantes Cáceres
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper discusses the notions of demand, poverty, information needs, and information and communication technologies (ICTs) to offer a concept of digital poverty, which may be useful to estimate the digital poverty level in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper is composed of two sections. The first section contains a conceptual discussion of digital poverty, its types and possible levels, and the underlying economic foundations. ICTs are defined based on their use and the conditions for such use. Digital poverty is therefore defined as a lack of ICTs and might be a feature of any population segment, whether or not economically poor. The second section of this paper is an empirical attempt to validate the classification, using data from a household survey (ENAHO) carried out in Peru. The limitations in measuring digital poverty at the household level instead of at the individual level are acknowledged. Lastly, the conclusions reached, possible implications for public policy, and the avenues open for further research are presented.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Caribbean, and Peru

39. The Future of Christianity in Latin America

Author:
Daniel H. Levine
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The public face of religion in Latin America has been transformed in the last half century, with important implications for the future. The Christianity of the future will be marked by vigorous competition and growing pluralism in an increasingly open and competitive civil society and political order. The origins of this diversity are located in changes within the region's long dominant Catholicism, combined with the surge of new Protestant and in particular Pentecostal churches. Both of these trends make sense in the context of social and political transformations that have moved major countries of the region out of civil war and authoritarianism into civil and competitive politics which draw the churches into public space in new ways. The impact of violence on the churches is visible in their new openness to issues of rights and freedom of organization, but also in a withdrawal from direct political engagement and a diversification of political positions in all the churches.
Topic:
Civil Society and Religion
Political Geography:
Latin America

40. Drugs, Civil War, and the Conditional Impact of the Economy on Democracy

Author:
Michael Coppedge, Angel Alvarez, and Lucas González
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Theorizing about the influence of modernization on democracy is once again in vogue. Nevertheless, this theme faces an important obstacle: the leverage of modernization hypotheses is generally modest. Key modernization variables, especially per capita GDP, almost always explain part of the variance in democracy, but rarely more than half. Also, as one can see in certain Latin American cases, economic growth sometimes has a negative impact on democracy. This paper argues that the impact of economic growth varies from country to country for systematic, not random, reasons. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) in a cross-regional sample of 108 countries from 1978 to 1999, the paper shows that it is crucial to distinguish between the short- term effect of per capita GDP growth within each country and the cross-national effect of long-term growth. A distinct causal mechanism is at work at each level of analysis. More precisely, the paper identifies four factors that condition the impact of economic growth on democracy: the existing political regime, the democratic experience of each country, the frequency of civil war, and the importance of drug trafficking in the domestic economy. Although other factors probably also condition the effect of the economy on democracy and democratization, the model used in this paper explains 82 percent of the variance in the sample, which is substantially greater than what is typically found in other studies of democratization. Consequently, this paper shows that it is necessary to continue to refine hypotheses about the conditional effect of the economy in order to improve conventional explanations of variation in levels of democracy, whether within one country or in comparative perspective.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and War on Drugs
Political Geography:
Latin America