Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTRegional integration blocs are subject to the admission of new members, which must be approved by domestic institutions. This article analyzes how the incorporation of Venezuela and Bolivia into Mercosur passed in the Paraguayan Congress. While the first case lasted from 2007 to 2013, demonstrating parliamentary opposition, the second episode took place between 2015 and 2016, suggesting convergence between the executive and legislative branches on the issue. Using process tracing, the unveiled mechanism shows how government and opposition forces act to alter the duration of the bill in Congress and that political parties have a pendular behavior according to political cleavages. Moreover, the findings of this study suggest the existence of a parliamentary veto power in foreign affairs and the importance of having homogeneous coalitions to achieve faster approvals.

While there has been scholarly attention to the politics of the third wave of regionalism in South America, this typically focuses on the performance of the Executive Branch rather than the domestic constraints. This article innovatively compares the behaviour of Mercosurian parliaments to understand their role in regional integration. It contributes to Foreign Policy Analysis, by drawing on Qualitative Comparative Analysis to systematically identify the configurations of conditions for rapid approval of enlargement treaties and investigate the impact of national parliaments. Nine cases are analysed related to the episodes of enlargement of Mercosur to empirically test the political conditions to achieve fast approval of treaties. The key finding is that domestic support (channelled in national parliaments) is important to confirm and conduct international projects – and specifically regional integration. This has implications for understanding the possibilities for how future accessions to Mercosur and other regional organisations will take place.

This article addresses the accession of Venezuela to Mercosur, observing the political conjuncture of the early 2000s, in the national, regional and international levels. This perspective seeks to understand the strategic calculation developed by president Hugo Chávez administration to broaden its room for maneuver in the South American context and to reach its goals of international insertion. Thus, the processes of withdrawal of the Andean Community and the approximation to Southern Common Market are analyzed, as well as the impulse towards the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America. The analysis is accompanied by an interpretation of both domestic and international political phenomena, which allowed for the development of aspects of South American regionalism. ; Este artículo analiza la entrada de Venezuela al Mercosur, observando la situación política de principios de la década de 2000, a nivel nacional, regional e internacional. Desde esta perspectiva, el objetivo es comprender el cálculo estratégico preparado por el gobierno del presidente Hugo Chávez para ampliar su margen de maniobra en el contexto de América del Sur y alcanzar sus objetivos de inserción internacional. Por lo tanto, se investigan los procesos de separación de la Comunidad Andina y el enfoque del Mercado Común del Sur, además del ímpetu dado a la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América. Este análisis se acompaña de una lectura de los fenómenos políticos, nacionales e internacionales, que permitieron el desarrollo de aspectos específicos del regionalismo sudamericano.

El artículo analiza la formación de preferencias de los parlamentarios brasileños en la deliberación de actos internacionales, por medio de un estudio de caso respecto del Protocolo de Adhesión de Venezuela al Mercosur. Trabajamos como hipótesis del artículo que las motivaciones de los congresistas brasileños (y del propio gobierno) se fundamentaron en intereses más inmediatos que de largo plazo. El objetivo es contribuir al debate sobre el rol del Congreso Nacional en el proceso decisorio de política exterior, verificando que el Legislativo busca tener mayor participación en este tema, como forma de redistribuir los poderes en el nivel doméstico.

The article analyses the preference formation of Brazilian legislators in the deliberation of international agreements, through a case study about the Protocol of Accession of Venezuela to Mercosur. We hypothesize that the motivation of Brazilian congresspeople (and of the government itself) are based on immediate interests rather than long term ones. The aim is to contribute with the debate about the role of the National Congress in the decision-making process of foreign policy, verifying that the Legislative seeks to have larger participation in this topic, as an instrument to redistribute the powers at the domestic level. ; El artículo analiza la formación de preferencias de los parlamentarios brasileños en la deliberación de actos internacionales, por medio de un estudio de caso respecto del Protocolo de Adhesión de Venezuela al Mercosur. Trabajamos como hipótesis del artículo que las motivaciones de los congresistas brasileños (y del propio gobierno) se fundamentaron en intereses más inmediatos que de largo plazo. El objetivo es contribuir al debate sobre el rol del Congreso Nacional en el proceso decisorio de política exterior, verificando que el Legislativo busca tener mayor participación en este tema, como forma de redistribuir los poderes en el nivel doméstico.