Suchergebnisse

This work interrogates the idea that a "liberal consensus" uniformly shaped the United States after World War II. The volume's findings indicate that political, cultural, and ideological conflict was never extinguished and that whatever liberal consensus existed was elitist and limited. These limitations included the seeds of its own destruction in the late 1960s and beyond

This paper undertakes a brief analysis on the origins and conceptual debates on governance and its application to the case of Latin America. In this region, the notion did not get the warmest welcome since other terms such as governability and government have responded to a tradition in regional policy analysis as a product of a turbulent recent past regarding alterations to democratic system. ; Este artículo se aboca a un breve análisis relativo a los orígenes y debates conceptuales relativos a la gobernanza y su aplicación al caso de América Latina. En este último espacio no ha tenido la mejor de las acogidas puesto que otros términos, como el de gobernabilidad o el de gobierno, han respondido a una tradición en el análisis político regional como producto de un pasado reciente turbulento en lo relativo a las alteraciones al sistema democrático.

Antonio Gramsci made great contributions to Marxist theory. In his work, he presents a set of conceptual elements that allow a correct understanding of the historical forms in which domination is exercised. Gramsci shows the political and cultural mechanisms that support these forms. The contributions of his work contributed to developing the thought of Latin American social transformation. This paper will analyze the Gramscian precepts related to the problematization of the relations between the State and civil society. In addition, we will observe the journey of this thought through the region and its presence in the framework of the search for new emancipatory areas and forms of popular struggles. The study of Gramscian thought has great validity because it constitutes a theoretical weapon in the process of strengthening and democratization civil society. ; Antonio Gramsci hizo grandes aportes a la teoría marxista. En su obra, presenta un conjunto de elementos conceptuales que permiten una correcta comprensión de las formas históricas en que se ejerce la dominación. Gramsci muestra los mecanismos políticos y culturales que dan sustento a dichas formas. Los aportes de su obra contribuyeron a desarrollar el pensamiento de la transformación social latinoamericana. En el presente trabajo se analizarán los preceptos gramscianos relativos a la problematización de las relaciones entre Estado y sociedad civil. Además, se observará el recorrido de este pensamiento por la región y su presencia en el marco de la búsqueda de nuevos ámbitos emancipatorios y formas de luchas populares. El estudio del pensamiento gramsciano tiene gran vigencia, porque constituye un arma teórica en el proceso de fortalecimiento y democratización de la sociedad civil.

Since the 1990s, most Latin American countries have significantly expanded noncontributory pension programs. In explaining this wave of expansion, research has focused on the protagonism of left parties and social movements and on electoral competition, generally disregarding the roles of organized business and conservative policy experts. This article demonstrates, through a detailed analysis of Chile's 2008 noncontributory pension reform, that conservative economists played active roles in formulating a noncontributory pension policy characterized by moderate, targeted, and "incentive-compatible" benefits and financed by the general budget. The conservative design of the program facilitated broad support from employers and private pension funds, critical for the eventual passage of the reform. The analysis illustrates the need to incorporate business interests into explanations of welfare state reforms in Latin America and the broader Global South, in particular by distinguishing the interests of employers and private providers and by focusing on their interaction with conservative policy experts.

Several Latin American countries have historic experiences with federal arrangements and decentralized forms of governance. However, decentralization has gained region wide attention as a highly important political topic only when the move towards democratization during the last decades provoked a tendency to delegate part of political autonomy to the subnational level. However, the process of decentralization in Latin America has not only led to positive outcomes. Instead, many decentralization processes are still plagued with deficiencies, which are not only due to the resistance of centralist governments.

Several Latin American countries have historic experiences with federal arrangements and decentralized forms of governance. However, decentralization has gained region wide attention as a highly important political topic only when the move towards democratization during the last decades provoked a tendency to delegate part of political autonomy to the subnational level. However, the process of decentralization in Latin America has not only led to positive outcomes. Instead, many decentralization processes are still plagued with deficiencies, which are not only due to the resistance of centralist governments.

In response to the growing salience of re-centralization in several Latin American countries that decentralized in the 1980s and 1990s, this paper examines presidential efforts to re-centralize fiscal power in the 1990s. In our study of re-centralization in Argentina and Brazil, we assess the utility of four common political economy explanations: the presence of economic crisis; the partisan powers of the president; the division of formal powers between the branches; and the extent of intra-bureaucratic conflict. We find that the success of economic stabilization measures facilitated re-centralization in both countries, though the pathways connecting the two phenomena were partially distinct. In Argentina, key re-centralization measures were rapidly achieved after stabilization as the result of the president's strong partisan powers and in the form of political deals within the Peronist party. Subsequently, the dissipation of President Carlos Menem's powers over the course of his second term facilitated the "return of the governors." In Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso re-centralized despite weak partisan powers, largely by using his reputation as a successful stabilizer to build a broad reform coalition. In Cardoso's Brazil, strong partisan cohesion in important cabinet posts also served as a partial substitute for the lack of partisan power in the legislature. These findings suggest the need for a closer examination of re-centralization efforts, particularly in the wake of macroeconomic stabilization and economic reform.