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Begin New Search Topic Civil Society Political Geography Latin America

11. Networked Justice: Judges, the Diffusion of Ideas, and Legal Reform Movements in Mexico

Author:
Matthew C. Ingram
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Existing research shows that the ideas of judges matter for judicial behavior both on the bench (decision making) and off the bench (lobbying and mobilization for institutional change). Yet there is little empirical evidence regarding the content and distribution of these ideas and even less evidence and fewer theoretical propositions regarding the manner in which ideas transfer or diffuse among judges. Addressing these empirical and theoretical gaps, I survey judges in the Mexican state of Michoacán and apply techniques of network analysis. The project makes four main contributions: (1) original data on the attitudes of judges regarding prominent institutional and jurisprudential changes shaping the legal landscape in Mexico; (2) egocentric data on network structure for the sampled judges; (3) sociocentric data on network structure at the level of judicial district, state supreme court, and entire state generated by aggregating the egocentric data; and (4) a mixed-methods analysis of the causal relationship between network features and judicial attitudes, drawing on egocentric methods, sociocentric methods, and personal interviews with focal individuals. Complementing literatures on political socialization, policy diffusion, and complex systems, the analysis clarifies our understanding of the role of judicial networks in strengthening democracy and the rule of law.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Political Economy, Governance, Law Enforcement, and Law
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

12. Confronting the News: The State of Independent Media in Latin America

Author:
Douglas Farah
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Freedom of expression and of the press in much of Latin America are under sustained attack by numerous authoritarian governments in the region, as well as non-state armed actors such as drug trafficking organizations and paramilitary groups. These attacks have made Latin America one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to be a journalist. Overall, the region, with the exception of the Caribbean, has suffered an almost uninterrupted deterioration of press freedoms over the past five years, reaching its lowest point since the military dictatorships of the 1980s.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Mass Media, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Caribbean

13. Índice de Percepción sobre la Gobernabilidad democrática (IPG). El caso de Zacatecas. Una herramienta para medir la calidad de la democracia.

Author:
Leonel Álvarez Yáñez, Guadalupe Margarita González Hernández, and Jesús Becerra Villegas
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Este artículo expone una investigación en la que se propuso calcular la percepción de gobernabilidad democrática, otorgándole una alta significa - tividad para evaluar los cambios de la democracia en México. La medición combina la satisfacción de los ciudadanos con el desempeño de las insti - tuciones, sus gobernantes y ellos mismos (los ciudadanos) como actores activos para mejorar la democracia mexicana. A tal efecto, se propuso que el entrevistado hiciera una evaluación de la situación socioeconómica de su entorno, a fin de comprender su percepción sobre la efectividad del gobierno en lograr éxitos económicos.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America

14. La disputa por la mediación durante el kirchnerismo en Argentina.

Author:
Lucía Vincent
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Nestor Kirchner, the ex Argentinean President, developed a unique and new way of relating with the press, totally divergent from the method that previous democratic governments used to have. Through the analysis of Kirchner´ speeches, this article will illustrate in which way the president aimed to weaken the media, removing them from their position as the “forth power” and “objective mediators” between the government and the citizens. Those transformations are due to the conditions in which he developed a specific type of leadership. Those changes, also, had consequences in the political representation and in the current characteristics of the democratic system in Argentina.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Politics, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America

15. Civil Society 2.0?: How the Internet Changes State-Society Relations in Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Cuba

Author:
Bert Hoffmann
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In the debate over the role of civil society under authoritarian regimes, the spread of transnational web-based media obliges us to rethink the arenas in which the societal voice can be raised–and heard. Taking the case of state-socialist Cuba, a diachronic comparison analyzes civil society dynamics prior to the Internet–in the early to mid-1990s, and a decade later, after digital and web-based media made their way onto the island. The study finds that in the pre-Internet period, the focus was on behind-the-scenes struggles for associational autonomy within the state-socialist framework. A decade later, web-based communication technologies have supported the emergence of a new type of public sphere in which the civil society debate is marked by autonomous citizen action. While this defies the socialist regime's design of state-society relations, its effect on democratization depends on the extent to which a web-based voice connects with off-line public debate and social action.
Topic:
Civil Society and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Cuba, Latin America, and Island

16. Bolivia's New Constitution: Towards Participatory Democracy and Political Pluralism?

Author:
Almut Schilling-Vacaflor
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In Bolivia, rights to increased political participation and the recognition of indigenous political systems are interrelated. The new constitution of 2009, a prime example of the “new Andean constitutionalism,” defines Bolivia as a representative, participatory and communitarian democracy. It incorporates enhanced mechanisms and institutions for participatory democracy. Moreover, new social rights have been anchored in the constitution and a plurinational state is supposed to be constructed. The article raises the question of whether the new constitution will change the relations between state and civil society considerably and whether a new democratic model is being established in Bolivia. I argue that there are many limiting factors when it comes to putting the emancipatory elements of the constitution into practice. These include the increased strength of the executive branch, the intent of the government to co‐opt civil society organizations and to exclude dissident views, the resistance of the conservative opposition to loosing some of its privileges, the deep‐rooted social inequality, the social conflicts and polarization, the resource dependence of the current economic model, and the authoritarian characteristics of indigenous self‐governance structures. The article demonstrates that the new Bolivian constitution cannot create a new society but that the processes around the elaboration of a new basic law have contributed to considerable changes in the social, political and symbolic order.
Topic:
Civil Society and Economics
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia

17. Reforming the Inter-American Defense Board

Author:
John A. Cope
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The Western Hemisphere's delegations to the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) should represent and be responsible to ministers of defense or their equivalents, rather than to the armed forces, as is the case in most countries in the Americas today. This breakthrough reform would bring the Board in line with democratic constitutional practices, strengthen Organization of American States (OAS) support for democracy, and help implement the 2003 Mexico City “Declaration on Security in the Americas,” which adopted a broadened multidimensional view of security. The reform could be accomplished without change to the March 2006 statutes and would bring the Board into the OAS General Secretariat associated with the Secretariat on Multidimensional Security.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Civil Society, and Crime
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America

18. El Grito: Four Years of Female Clandestine Journalism Against the Military Dictatorship in Panama (1968–1972)

Author:
Carlos Guevara Mann and Brittmarie Janson Pérez
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Most countries of Latin America lived through long dictatorships before transitioning to democracy in the late twentieth century. Who keeps the spirit of resistance alive during bleak periods of intense repression? Who reaffirms the principles of democracy when they are violated with impunity? In Panama, a clandestine weekly titled El Grito (The Cry), published during the first four years of the military dictatorship installed in 1968, became a reliable source of information, a vehicle of protest, and a mouthpiece of democratic education. Never divining that those responsible for the clandestine publication were women, the military regime was unable to stop it. Uncovering unknown details of the weekly, this paper retrieves the effort made by a small group of middle-class women who did not identify with any political party and had no financial support other than their own limited resources. We suggest that attention be paid to the actors—often from relegated social groups—who keep the spirit of protest alive in countries during long periods of political repression. We show that, contrary to general expectations, those occupying subordinate positions in society may have an advantage in carrying out resistance activities against authoritarian regimes.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America

19. Youth and Civic Engagement in the Americas Preliminary Findings From a Three-City Study: Rio De Janeiro, Chicago, and Mexico City

Author:
Irene Rizzini, María de Los Angeles Torres, and Norma Alicia Del Río Lugo
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper examines how civically engaged youth in three different cities and countries in the Americas became engaged in civic activity. The usual concern about youth is their lack of involvement. However, the authors have learned from their work in Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, and Mexico City that there are youth in each of these cities who care deeply about their communities and are active in diverse organizations and projects. This paper is part of a broader study that examines youth who are significantly engaged in civic activity. In this paper, the authors will focus particularly on the youths' initial process of engagement and what motivated them to get involved.
Topic:
Civil Society and Youth Culture
Political Geography:
America, Latin America, Mexico, and Chicago

20. Negotiation on the Ground: Realizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in South Africa, Nigeria and Peru

Author:
Natasha Sawh
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) came into force in 1948, the horrific memory of the Holocaust was fresh in the minds of the drafters. The rise of Nazism in Germany was made possible in large part by the severe economic depression the country suffered. In 1941, President Roosevelt outlined four essential freedoms he believed to be achievable worldwide within a generation, including freedom from want. In his 1944 State of the Union address, he stated a pragmatic rationale for socio-economic rights: “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made” (cited in Eide 1995, p.29). In the aftermath of WWII, the importance of international standards that could protect all human beings against state oppression was clear. As a result, a group of influential states agreed upon the UDHR, which expressed a bold and comprehensive vision of human rights that included political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. Its preamble envisions the “advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want.”
Topic:
Civil Society and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, Germany, Latin America, Nigeria, and Peru