Economists and Political scientists have suggested for a long time that democracy and the environment are linked. What they did not analyze in detail is ifthe way in which politicians are elected influences the environment as well. Thescope of this paper is to fill this gap. Using high quality data on a cross section of countries, coming from previous studies, we find strong results suggestingthat politicians in majoritarian systems are less interested in environmental commitments than those in proportional representations. The consequence is thatenvironmental commitments are lower in the former system than in the latter.
El presente artículo hace un análisis sobre los patrones de competencia electoral en las elecciones a la Cámara de Diputados de Brasil. Las reglas electorales tienen un impacto significativo en la competencia política y, por consiguiente, en la configuración y el funcionamiento del sistema político de un modo general. Para este estudio se considera no sólo el impacto de las reglas de un sistema de representación proporcional con lista abierta, sino también la combinación de este método con la permisión de que los partidos formen alianzas electorales. ; [EN] The current article presents an analysis of the patterns of electoral competition to the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil. Electoral rules have a significant impact on political competition and on the configuration and workings of the political system in general. This study considers not only the impact of the system of open list proportional representation, but also at the combination of this method with the possibility of parties forming electoral alliances.
In many ountries, the a ommodation of ethni , linguisti and religious diversities is a ma jor hallenge. The s ope of this paper is to attempt to understandwhi h politi al arrangements might fa ilitate inter-ethni ohabitation. It is indeed extremely important to understand whi h ele toral system ould be seen asthe most eÆ ient in redu ing ra ial tensions both in the short and in the longrun. The ore of the work is the study of the ee t that ele toral systems have onra ial tensions but also their intera tive ee ts with de entralization. Using thebest available data ( oming from the International Country Risk Guide) and thete hniques we believe to be the most appropriate (Interval Censored Regression)we nd interesting results: rst, ma joritarian systems seem to be positively relatedto high levels of ethni tensions while proportional representations seem parti ularly appropriate for redu ing su h tensions. Se ond, we nd that presidentialism,is asso iated to lower levels of ra ial tensions. Finally we nd that de entralizationis more eÆ ient under parliamentarism than under presidentialism for allowing abetter ethni ohabitation.JEL CLassi ation: D74, H40, H72
The present Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is inspired by the ideas of Simon Bolivar (1798-1830) and his constitutional projects. The Bolivarian Republic, in order to create a constitution that was as similar as possible to the instituional project of the Liberator; worked very hard to produce a document that could be said to be more Bolivarian than the constitutional congresses of 1819 and 1826. The original institutional dream of Bolivar of four powers was expasnded to five in the Congress of 1999, incorporating along with the moral power proposed by Bolivar in Angostura en 1819, the Electoral power found in the Bolivarian Constitution of 1826. The constituent members in Angostura feared that moral power would be dangerous and could be translated into something similar to an religious inquisition. The constituent members in 1999 created rigorous forms of ethical control. In the new Citizen and Electoral powers- articles 273 and 274- citizen power is exercised by the Moral Republican Council with among other objectives, that of sanctioning situations that are contrary to the public ethic and administrative moral, and promoting social responsibility, work, and the education of the citizenry. Bolivar's text of 1819 turns over the job of guiding public opinion to the Moral Chamber: " the punishment of vices with sanctions and public chastisement and public virtue with honor and glory. Only in the Bolivian Constitution of 1826, when Bolivar had total power, did he dare include a Censorship Council to watch over the "republican morality" condemning usurpers of public authority, traitors and criminals, and giving public honorto the memory of great men, and the virtue and service of common citizensa. In all of this there was a strict control of public media and a moral tribunal. Many aspects sanctioned in the 1999 Constitution appear to be useless with respect to the constitutional projects of Simon Bolivar, such as, for example, the insistence in electoral power found in the 1826 Constitution as a federalist variant to guarantee the proportional representation of the provinces. In the 1999 Constitution electoral power appears as an administrative bureaucratic organ of an autonomous judicial power in contrast with Legislative and Executive Power. The abundance of articles and transitory dispositions in the Bolivarizn Constitution of 1999 do not contribute to political reform, to modernization, nor does it convert the document in an efficient instrument to improve the living conditions of the population. ; La actual República Bolivariana de Venezuela se ha inspirado en las ideas de Simón Bolívar (1798-1830) y en sus proyectos constitucionales. La República Bolivariana para darse una Constitución que fuera la más similar al proyecto institucional del Libertador; realizó un trabajo que puede ser calificado como más bolivariano que el de los Constituyentes de 1819 y de 1826. Llevando más adelante la fantasía institucional, si Bolívar había pensado en cuatro poderes públicos, los constituyentes de 1999 crearon cinco poderes, incorporando junto al Poder Moral propuesto por Bolívar en Angostura en 1819, el Poder Electoral de la Constitución Boliviana de 1826. Los constituyentes de Angostura temían que el Poder Moral fuera peligroso y pudiera transformarse en algo similar a la inquisición religiosa, relegándolo a un mero apéndice. Los constituyentes del 99 crearon formas riesgosas de control ético. En los nuevos Poderes Ciudadano y Electoral -artículos 273° y 274°-, el Poder Ciudadano es ejercido por el Consejo Moral Republicano con el objetivo, entre otros, de sancionar hechos que atentan contra la ética pública y la moral administrativa y promover la responsabilidad social, el trabajo, la educación formadora de la ciudadanía. El texto de Bolívar (1819) entrega a la Cámara Moral la tarea de guiar la opinión pública mediante "el castigo de los vicios con el oprobio y la infamia y el premio de la virtud pública con los honores y la gloria". Sólo en la Constitución de Bolivia (1826), cuando Bolívar posee unpoder incuestionable, se atreve a incorporar una Cámara de Censores para vigilar la "moral republicana", condenar al "desprecio eterno a los usurpadores de la autoridad pública, a los grandes traidores y criminales" y decretar honores públicos a la memoria de los grandes hombres y a la virtud y servicios prestados por los ciudadanos". Todo ello dentro de un preciso control sobre la libertad de prensa, prefigurando una especie de tribunal moral. Muchos de los aspectos sancionados en la Constitución de 1999, aparecen como inútiles repeticiones con respecto a los proyectos constitucionales de Simón Bolívar, como por ejemplo, la insistencia en un Poder Electoral previsto en la Constitución Boliviana de 1826 como variante federalista para garantizar una representación proporcional de las provincias. En la Constitución de 1999 el Poder Electoral aparece como órgano de carácter administrativo burocrático con el propósito de regular los procedimientos electorales, para lo que hubiese bastado un órgano administrativo dependiente de un Poder Judicial autónomo con respecto al Poder Legislativo y al Ejecutivo. La sobreabundancia de artículos y disposiciones transitorias de la Constitución de la República Bolivariana de 1999 no contribuyen a reformar la política, a modernizarla ni convertirla en un instrumento eficaz para mejorar las condiciones de vida de la población.
