Suchergebnisse

"Intergovernmental Relations in Latin America: Determinants and Dynamics" published on by Oxford University Press.

AbstractThis article examines whether there is gender segmentation in civic participation in Latin America, and whether such segmentation is related to gender differences in political participation. Confirming the findings of other studies, this analysis indicates that there is gender segmentation in civic associational activities, and that men are more involved than women in political activities, except for voting. Among those involved in civic activities, however, women attend meetings more often than men or about equally in all types of activities under consideration, except for sports and recreational pursuits. This highlights the need to differentiate between type and intensity of civic participation and provides empirical evidence that Latin American women have strong community ties through a variety of organizations. The regression analysis shows that civic engagement has a positive effect on political participation but that the magnitude of that effect varies by gender depending on the activity.

"Latin American countries have for a long time been importers of public policies and institutions from the Global North. The colonial legacy and resulting patterns of international relations during the 20th century favoured a course of adoption and hybridization of political institutions. In recent decades, a new conjuncture has emerged in which Latin American policies have started to diffuse South-South and even South-North. Led by Brazil with Participatory Budgeting and the Bolsa Familia program, other countries in the region soon followed. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and bicycle policies in Curitiba and Bogota have also reached wide international recognition and circulation. And yet, despite Latin America's new role as a policy "exporter", little is known about its dynamics, causes, and effects. Why have Latin American policies been diffused inside and outside the region? Which actors are involved? What driving forces affect these processes? This innovative collection offers a new perspective on the policy diffusion phenomena. Drawing on different examples from Latin American experiences in urban local policies and national social policies, experts present a new framework to study this phenomenon centered on the mobilization of ideas, interests and discourses for policy diffusion. Latin America and Policy Diffusion will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students and practitioners working in the fields of political science, public policy, international relations and Latin American Studies."--

"Work and Labor Movements in Latin America" published on by Oxford University Press.

A review essay covering books by 1) Marcelo Bergman and Laurence Whitehead (Eds.), Criminality, Public Security, and the Challenge to Democracy in Latin America (2009), 2) Hector Dominguez-Ruvalcaba and Ignacio Corona (Eds.), Gender Violence at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Media Representation and Public Response (2010), 3) Rosa-Linda Fregoso and Cynthia Bejarano (Eds.), Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in the Americas (2010), 4) Maria Helena Moreira Alves and Philip Evanson, Living in the Crossfire: Favela Residents, Drug Dealers, and Police Violence in Rio de Janeiro (2011), 5) Gabriela Polit Duenas and Maria Helena Rueda (Eds.), Meanings of Violence in Contemporary Latin America (2011), and 6) Irina Carlota Silber, Everyday Revolutionaries: Gender, Violence, and Disillusionment in Postwar El Salvador (2010).

Domestic politics in Latin America since the end of the Cold War has been characterized by the complicated process of coming to terms with its violent past. For years, the United States has had the power to aid in investigations into crimes committed during the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s. The US was so deeply involved in the dictatorships that thousands of pages of evidence on the crimes committed are available in CIA, Military, and Presidential archives. Through making these classified documents available, the United States has a unique opportunity to make amends for its involvement in Latin America and to live up to its self-crafted reputation of promoting global democracy and justice. Yet, declassification projects have been limited, drawn out, contentious, and deeply political. I argue that the American resistance to assisting the nations of Latin America in coming to terms with their difficult and painful histories reflects the primacy of political concerns over ethical and legal issues when presidents consider major declassification projects. This behavior reflects a persistent trend in U.S. foreign policy of placing interests ahead of values. US presidential administrations are aware that they hold tremendous political power in the information concerning Cold War-era Latin American dictatorships that exists in classified and declassified documents in the United States. As this project demonstrates, a president will never offer information to Latin American countries solely for transparency's sake- but will only declassify documents if it is clear that there will be tangible political gains from a declassification project.

"Parties and Regime Change in Latin America" published on by Oxford University Press.