Suchergebnisse

What is the effect of political violence on the production of coca in the Central Andes? Does U.S. military aid reduce the amount of drugs that originate from this region? What other factors help explain the production of coca? Are the effects of U.S. military aid the same across the Andean nations? This paper tests the effects of political violence & U.S. military aid in the drug producing nations of Colombia, Bolivia & Peru. Our results are consistent with existing literature that emphasizes the obstacles that governments face as they attempt to suppress markets for prohibited goods. Our comparative analysis sheds new light on the limitations of the current U.S. policy, particularly in Colombia, where political violence has strengthened the global drug trade. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Most researchers interested in the relationship between global markets and public policy focus on advanced industrial democracies. In contrast, we examine competing hypotheses as to globalization's effect on governments by expanding the scope of the discussion to include developing nations. More specifically, we investigate the relationship between international market integration and the evolving burden of taxation on capital, as well as the subsequent response of markets to shifts in tax policy in Latin America since the late 1970s. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, we find that global market forces are more constraining vis-à-vis tax policy in Latin America than in the world's wealthiest nations. Despite these market-based pressures, however, national politics continue to influence tax policy in Latin America in a manner consistent with findings on advanced industrial democracies. As such, developing nations continue to have some room to manipulate policy, though within the context of a more strictly neoliberal context than their counterparts in advanced industrial democracies.

Existing studies hold that Latin America's market turn has had a demobilizing effect on collective political activity despite the presence of democracy. However, recent work has documented the revival of protest in the region, emphasizing the repoliticization of collective actors in the wake of economic liberalization, especially when democracy is present. This article expands the theoretical scope of the repoliticization perspective, providing the most comprehensive test of the demobilization and repoliticization hypotheses to date. Using time-series data from seventeen Latin American countries, the article confirms the repoliticization view by showing that protest increases with economic liberalization in democratic settings. Adapted from the source document.

In the 1990s, the choice of an appropriate exchange rate regime began to capture the attention of policy makers across Latin America. Several countries pegged their currency to the U.S. dollar or even officially substituted the dollar for their national currency. Although economists and political scientists have made piecemeal contributions to the understanding of such policy choices, the literature currently lacks an integrated theoretical framework and a comprehensive test of alternative hypotheses. This study seeks to rectify these gaps in the literature by arguing that policy makers see the implementation of fixed exchange rate regimes as a politically expedient commitment device that allows them to avoid adopting more difficult long-term adjustment policies designed to attain macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth. This hypothesis is tested with alternative hypotheses put forward in the burgeoning literature on exchange rate regime choice. Theoretical expectations are supported by the results of several logit models, which confirm some previous findings in the literature.

Objective-This article explores the empirical effects of U.S. drug policy on coca cultivation in the Central Andes. We assess the impact of U.S. military assistance on the production of coca in the Central Andes, while controlling for other explanatory variables that influence coca cultivation. Method-Using data from 1980-2001 for Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru, we perform a pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis. Results-The effects of U.S. military assistance on coca cultivation are not uniform across the Central Andes. Coca production decreased in Bolivia and Peru and increased in Colombia. Total coca production in the Central Andes, however, remained unchanged. Conclusion-This study is consistent with existing literature that points out the obstacles governments face as they attempt to suppress illicit goods. Specifically, our empirical findings support the idea of the "balloon effect," whereby government efforts to "squeeze" illicit trade in one area result in the expansion of that trade elsewhere. Tables, Figures, 2, References. Adapted from the source document.

Largely due to the theoretical weight given to the role of economic crisis, the existing literature on presidential approval in Peru offers a variety of competing explanations about the factors that account for presidential support. These competing explanations share one bond: they emphasize the absence of traditional economic voting. We argue here that the diversity of interpretations & empirical findings stem from the high degree of volatility experienced by economic indicators, & the failure of existing research to account for the time-dependent variance of presidential popularity. We analyze the impact of economic performance & key political events on the determination of presidential approval in Peru for the period 1985-2008 using an Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. Our findings suggest that the effects of economic conditions on presidential approval approximate more traditional economic voting postures than previously thought. To the extent that crisis-ridden economic conditions in Peru have helped to theorize the alleged departures from traditional economic voting, the country is an ideal case to revisit standing propositions in the literature, particularly in a moment when those crisis-ridden economic conditions have disappeared. Adapted from the source document.

Existing literature emphasizes the disorganizing or weakening effects of economic liberalization on civil society, whereby free-market policies are said to demobilize and depoliticize collective actors. The article evaluates the effects of economic liberalization on large-scale societal mobilizations across seventeen Latin American countries for the period 1970–2000. The article further tests the effects of economic liberalization on individual political participation across sixteen Latin American countries for the period 1980–2000. In contrast to the atomization literature, this article provides strong evidence that economic liberalization leads to greater levels of societal mobilization in the context of free-market democratization. The article also demonstrates that economic liberalization does not induce a decline in political participation. Collectively, these results cast doubt on the theoretical underpinnings and empirical findings presented in Kurtz (2004).

Existing literature emphasizes the disorganizing or weakening effects of economic liberalization on civil society, whereby free-market policies are said to demobilize and depoliticize collective actors. the article evaluates the effects of economic liberalization on large-scale societal mobilizations across seventeen latin american countries for the period 1970-2000. the article further tests the effects of economic liberalization on individual political participation across sixteen latin american countries for the period 1980-2000. in contrast to the atomization literature, this article provides strong evidence that economic liberalization leads to greater levels of societal mobilization in the context of free-market democratization. the article also demonstrates that economic liberalization does not induce a decline in political participation. collectively, these results cast doubt on the theoretical underpinnings and empirical findings presented in Kurtz (2004). (World Politics / SWP)