Suchergebnisse

1970s military dictatorship in Latin America was followed by a democratization process in the 1980s, at a point when military powers had devastated the economy & more than doubled foreign debt. Now, in the beginning of the twenty-first century, the region finds itself in a period marked by governments that, perhaps more than ever before, are characterized by their reaction to the neo-liberal policies of the 1990s. Of particular concern in this respect is the changing relationship between the region & the United States, which in turn opens opportunity for the involvement of other international actors in the sphere. This brings about a high degree of uncertainty both for Latin America itself as well as for the international community. Some of the many cases of Latin American economies & politics in crisis are described here in detail. C Brunski

The purpose of this essay is to examine the status of democracy in Latin American countries as well as the prospects upcoming for the region in the present decade. We will provide a map of the subject that includes a basic definition of democracy, an overview of theories about how democracies arise and may be maintained, as a continuum, and a review of what we know empirically about Latin American democratization. We suggest a model in which political culture and social structure influence each other, and that both directly influence political processes, which in turn mediates between these causal factors and the actual emergence of democratic rules of the political game in every particular country. The approach is completed with a series of lapop Data that shows up how far and in what direction democracy is taking place in Latin America.

Intro -- LATIN AMERICA AS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: ANALYSES AND VIEWPOINTS -- LATIN AMERICA AS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: ANALYSES AND VIEWPOINTS -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 LATIN AMERICA: TERRORISM ISSUES -- SUMMARY -- TERRORISM IN LATIN AMERICA: U.S. CONCERNS -- COLOMBIA -- Peru -- Cuba -- Venezuela -- Venezuela and FARC-Related Sanctions -- Iran's Activity and Influence in Latin America -- Iran's Strategic Interest in Latin America -- Iran's Growing Relations in Latin America -- Concerns about Hezbollah in Latin America -- U.S. POLICY -- U.S. Sanctions -- U.S. Assistance and Other Support -- Increased Regional Cooperation Since 9/11 -- Legislative Initiatives and Oversight -- 111th Congress -- 112th Congress -- CONCLUSION -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORISM, AND CRIMINALIZED STATES IN LATIN AMERICA: AN EMERGING TIER-ONE NATIONAL SECURITY PRIORITY -- FOREWORD -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL FRAMEWORK -- The Changing Nature of the Threat -- Defining Terms -- New Actors in Latin American TOC-State Relations -- THE CURRENT U.S. GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO TOC -- The Unrecognized Role of the Criminalized States -- THE NATURE OF THE THREAT IN THE AMERICAS -- Old Paradigms Are Not Enough -- The New Geopolitical Alignment -- The Model: Recombinant Networks and Geographical Pipelines -- Geographical "Pipelines" -- CRIMINALIZING STATES AS NEW REGIONAL ACTORS -- The Weak State-Criminal State Continuum -- Hugo Chávez and the FARC: The Franchising Model -- The FARC and Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua -- The Regional Infrastructure -- The TOC-Terrorist State Alliance -- THE BOLIVARIAN AND IRANIAN REVOLUTIONS: THE TIES THAT BIND -- An Alliance of Mutual Benefit -- CONCLUSION -- End Notes

Sociologists have long acknowledged the importance of religion for American politics, especially for two groups of people: (a) (white) conservative Protestants, who are increasingly affiliated with the religious right, and (b) progressives, who are more and more disaffiliated from organized religion. However, a comprehensive statement of the ways in which religion matters for politics, the context in which it matters and does not matter, and how this has changed over time is lacking. Recent reviews acknowledge that at best, the relationship between religion and politics in the United States is "not straightforward" ( Grzymala-Busse 2012 , p. 427). We contend that this is primarily a result of the fact that neither the sociology of religion nor political sociology adequately considers the role that inequality (especially race and class but also gender) play in religious affiliation (and nonaffiliation). As a result, both fields have neglected to systematically examine the ways in which class and race may shape the relationship between religion and politics in the United States. We thus argue that both fields would benefit from engagement with theories of complex inequality that take seriously the ways in which inequalities of race, class, and gender interact ( McCall 2001 ). In doing so, scholars also need to recognize that these structures of inequality are deeply intertwined with religious group membership—a theoretical argument that we call complex religion.

Outlines the author's thoughts about the endangered middle class, covering topics from health care and education to international economic policies and global energy independence

Latin America is a continent of underdeveloped countries, by any criteria. A terminological discussion as to whether they are underdeveloped or developing would be quite irrelevant. The fact is that Latin America has an explosive population expansion, a low educational level, low health standards, a low life expectancy, poor work conditions, a small middle class, problems of national integration, a low level of industrialization, low per capita income and GNP, low development of agricultural and fishing resources, low consumption of mechanical and industrial energy and excessive expansion of the commercial sector, not to mention the character of the political situation and its consequences. In these countries the majority of the people live in very poor conditions, under a traditional social structure of a few 'haves' and a large number of 'have-nots'.