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221. La participación en Operaciones de Paz de la ONU y el control civil de las fuerzas armadas: los casos de Argentina y Uruguays

Author:
Arturo C. Sotomayor
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This is a comparative study that explores the impact of participation in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations on civil-military relations in two democratizing and developing countries; namely, Argentina and Uruguay. I ask for example, why the incorporation of the Argentine military into UN peace operations increased linkages between diplomats and soldiers, while Uruguayan peacekeeping experiences enlarged the gap between politicians and the military? I develop a qualitative measurement to evaluate variations on the effects by focusing on the mode of transition to democracy, the bureaucratic politics of the defense policy-making, and the type of socialization in the field. My research argues that the military is not defined only by domestic variables. This leads to questions in general about the nature of the military as an institution. Not only the doctrine, technology and techniques of the military are influenced by international variables, but also its very raison d'être and place in domestic politics. This is an initial attempt to theorize and elucidate how the peacekeeping policies of transitional and democratizing regimes differ and vary in their effects from the peace contributions of developed and established democracies, such as Canada, Norway, and Sweden.
Topic:
Democratization, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Canada, Norway, Argentina, South America, Uruguay, and Sweden

222. Dark Armies, Secret Bases, and Rummy, Oh My!

Author:
Conn Hallinan
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
It would be easy to make fun of President Bush's recent fiasco at the 4th Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. His grand plan for a free trade zone reaching from the Artic Circle to Tierra del Fuego was soundly rejected by nations fed up with the economic and social chaos wrought by neoliberalism. At a press conference, South American journalists asked him rude questions about Karl Rove. And the President ended the whole debacle by uttering what may be the most trenchant observation the man has ever made on Latin America: "Wow! Brazil is big!"
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States, Argentina, South America, and Latin America

223. The Summit of the Americas: Rescuing the Reform Agenda

Author:
Roger F. Noriega
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The fourth regional Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on November 4–5, will be a test of courage for the region's leaders. Pressured by genuine popular dissatisfaction, they will either commit unequivocally to finish the hard work of creating economic opportunity for the region's 128 million poor, or they will let warmed-over populism undermine the consensus behind free-market reforms and democracy itself. The stakes are high, and the leaders must use the summit process to advance the reform agenda for their peoples' sake. At the summit, President George W. Bush will, no doubt, press his colleagues to reemphasize their commitments to defend democracy and the rule of law, deepen economic reforms, and expand trade as a recipe for sustained, equitable growth. But there is a significant number of Latin leaders who may try to scuttle this work plan and serve up sympathetic rhetoric to cynically court the poor.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
America, Argentina, and South America

224. Female Entrepreneurship and Business Consortiums: Prospective Solutions for Argentina’s Economic Challenges

Author:
Christopher Jay Walker
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
As Argentine policy makers attempt to promote and sustain development after the economic crisis that emerged at the turn of the century, the role of business consortiums merits particular attention—especially with regard to assisting female entrepreneurs in business venturing. After reviewing the literature on gender in the marketplace, this article explores the results of a qualitative case study conducted in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which focuses on the role of women in business consortiums. The study compiles and analyzes data from 314 business consortiums and seventy interviews of business owners and managers in Argentina. Five primary roles of business consortiums emerged from this field research: (1) training on business operations and practices; (2) collaboration on projects that promote common interests; (3) forums for idea and experience sharing; (4) opportunities for networking; and (5) resources for aid and support. Further analysis of existing consortiums in Argentina reveals that businesswomen are less likely to participate in consortium training and activities than their male counterparts, and that this gender dichotomy could be correlated with a lack of female consortium leaders. Policy recommendations are put forth that focus on public and private sector efforts to boost Argentine entrepreneurs’ membership in local business consortiums and strengthening female representation in consortium leadership.
Topic:
Women, Entrepreneurship, Economy, and Business
Political Geography:
Argentina and South America

225. Civil-Military Relations and Security Institutions in the Southern Cone: The Sources of Argentine-Brazilian Nuclear Cooperation

Author:
Arturo Sotomayor
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the conditions in which the governments of Argentina and Brazil founded security institutions in the early 1990s, while they were democratizing. Civilian leaders in both countries established institutions and sought international participation deliberately to achieve civilian control and gain leverage over the military establishment, whom they sorely distrusted. The need to stabilize civil-military relations at home was therefore the prime motivating force behind the emergence of security institutions in the Southern Cone. Three mechanisms were at work: omnibalancing, policy handling, and managing uncertainty. These mechanisms are derived from three different schools of thought: realism, organizational-bureaucratic models, and theories of domestic political institutions. Besides explaining the sources of nuclear bilateral cooperation, this argument also serves as a critique of two prominent theories in international relations that attempt to explain cooperation and peaceful relations among democracies: neoliberal institutionalism and democratic peace theory.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, and South America

226. A Sequential Theory of Decentralization and its Effects on the Intergovernmental Balance of Power: Latin American Cases in Comparative Perspective

Author:
Tulia G. Falleti
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Both advocates and critics of decentralization assume that decentralization invariably increases the power of subnational governments. However, a closer examination of the consequences of decentralization across countries reveals that the magnitude of such change can range from substantial to insignificant. To explain this variation, I propose a sequential theory of decentralization that has three main characteristics: a) it defines decentralization as a process; b) it takes into account the territorial interests of bargaining actors; and c) it incorporates policy feedback effects in the analysis of bargaining situations. I argue that the sequencing of different types of decentralization (fiscal, administrative, and political) is a key determinant of the evolution of intergovernmental balance of power. I measure this evolution in the four largest Latin American countries and apply the theory to the two extreme cases: Colombia and Argentina. I show that, contrary to commonly held opinion, decentralization in Argentina did not increase the power of governors and mayors relative to the president. In contrast, in Colombia, a different sequence of decentralization reforms led to higher degrees of autonomy of the governors and mayors relative to the president.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Argentina, Colombia, and Latin America

227. Unemployment, Macroeconomic Policy and Labor Market Flexibility: Argentina and Mexico in the 1990s

Author:
Roberto Frenkel and Jaime Ros
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper compares the divergent unemployment experiences in Argentina and Mexico in the 1990s, examining in detail the remarkable contrasts in the adjustment of the labor market in these two countries that occur despite equally striking similarities in the evolution of a number of macroeconomic variables and external economic shocks. The paper focuses on the role of macroeconomic policies and the type of industrial restructuring in these developments and considers to what extent the divergent unemployment experiences can be explained by differences in the institutional characteristics of the labor market.
Topic:
Economics and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Argentina, South America, North America, and Mexico

228. Argentina Has Seen the Past—And It Works (For Now)

Author:
Mark Falcoff
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Probably more than any other Latin American country, the Argentine Republic is susceptible to abrupt changes of spirit and mood. Ten years ago it was apparently hurling itself, pell-mell, into the twenty-first century as South America's great example of economic liberalization and diplomatic alignment with the United States. Today both notions are distinctly out of fashion there, and no wonder—the advantages of both were drastically oversold to the public by the administration of President Carlos Menem (1989-1999). At the end of 2000 the economy virtually collapsed; for a time it appeared as if the country might actually dissolve as a coherent political community. Thanks to the strong hand of Senator Eduardo Duhalde, who took over at the end of 2000 from Fernando de la Rúa, Menem's successor, civic order was restored, though the last three years have been the worst in Argentina's modern history, more dismal even than the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Topic:
International Relations, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, Argentina, South America, and Latin America

229. Picking Up the Pieces: Comparing the Social Impact of Finacial Crisis in Mexico and Argentina

Author:
Manuel Pastor and Carol Wise
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
After a committed process of macroeconomic stabilization that began during the mid-1980s in most of Latin America, many observers began to speak of the need for a “second generation” of reforms that could more firmly establish the bases for economic growth and correct for longstanding distributional inequities. By the mid-1990s serious reformers like Argentina and Mexico seemed to be on the cusp of tackling this distributional backlog by launching so-called second phase market reforms meant to correct for earlier shortcomings in the social realm (Naím 1995; Pastor and Wise 1999). However, in both cases, financial crises erupted: Mexico's crash of December 1994, which saw a forty percent devaluation of the peso and a massive outflow of portfolio capital; and, more recently, Argentina's 2002 meltdown, which while simmering since the Brazilian devaluation of 1999, finally caused the country's commitment to a fixed exchange rate to be abandoned.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, South America, Latin America, North America, and Mexico

230. The Gender Impact of Pension Reform in Latin America—and Broader Policy Implications

Author:
Estelle James, Alejandra Cox Edwards, and Rebeca Wong
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Over the past two decades multipillar pension systems that include both a public defined benefit (DB) and private defined contribution (DC) pillar have been adopted in many countries. Critics of these pension reforms argue that the tight link between payroll contributions and benefits in the DC pillar will produce lower pensions for women. In contrast, supporters of these reforms argue that multipillar systems remove distortions that favored men and permit a more targeted public pillar that will help women. To test these conflicting claims about multipillar reforms, and to analyze more generally the gender impact of alternative pension systems, this paper examines the differential impact on the two genders of the new and old systems in three Latin American countries—Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. On the basis of household survey data, we simulate the employment histories of representative men and women and the pensions that these are likely to generate under the new and old rules.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Argentina, South America, Latin America, Central America, North America, Mexico, and Chile