Suchergebnisse

Addressing one of the defining social issues of our time, The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America explores how and why Latin America, a culturally Catholic and historically conservative region, has become a leader among nations of the Global South, and even the Global North, in the passage of gay marriage legislation. In the first comparative study of its kind, Jordi Díez explains cross-national variation in the enactment of gay marriage in three countries: Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Based on extensive interviews in the three countries, Díez argues that three main key factors explain variation in policy outcomes across these cases: the strength of social movement networks forged by activists in favor of gay marriage; the access to policy making afforded by particular national political institutions; and the resonance of the frames used to demand the expansion of marriage rights to same-sex couples

This book explores environmental policymaking in Mexico as a vehicle to understanding the broader changes in the policy process within a system undergoing a democratic transformation. It constitutes the first major analysis of environmental policymaking in Mexico at the national level, and examines the implementation of forestry policy in Mexico's largest rain forest, the Selva Lacandona of the state of Chiapas.

Over the past decade, several Latin American jurisdictions have extended rights to sexual minorities. Yet political science attention to this development has been scant, and scholars know little about the factors that have led to these unprecedented policy changes. This article fills this gap and explains policy outcomes in a notoriously understudied policy area by comparing the two jurisdictions in Latin America that were the first to adopt same-sex unions: Buenos Aires and Mexico City. The article first argues for the usefulness of engaging theoretical approaches to the study of social mobilization in policy analyses. Based on extensive field research, it subsequently advances the argument that the passage of these pieces of legislation in both cities is largely the result of the ability of very-well-organized activists to present an effectively framed policy within rare and favorable political conditions.

An important component of the process of political change Mexico has undergone over the last two decades has been mass mobilization of society, as numerous sectors have pulled out of corporatist structures and placed demands directly upon the state. It is within this 'thickening' of civil society that Mexico's environmental movement emerged, strengthened and was ultimately able to achieve numerous policy triumphs during the 1990s. Puzzlingly, however, since the end of PRI rule in the 2000 elections and the advent of democratic politics, Mexico's environmental movement has suffered a severe weakening, a weakening which has resulted in very limited impact on national environmental policy. This article examines the reasons behind the weakening of Mexican environmentalism since 2000. Based on data obtained through field research and in-depth personal interviews with key state and non-state actors, this article presents the argument that the weakening of the Mexican environmentalism is primarily due to a 'leadership vacuum' produced by the inclusion of the movement's key actors into positions within the Environment Ministry during the first half of Fox's administration (2000-06). Resumen: Auge y caída del movimiento verde de MéxicoUn importante componente del proceso de cambio político que ha sufrido México en las últimas dos décadas ha sido la movilización masiva de la sociedad, a medida que numerosos sectores han salido de sus estructuras corporativas para exigir reivindicaciones directamente al estado. Es dentro de este contexto de 'densificación' de la sociedad civil que emergió el movimiento ecologista de México, para luego consolidarse y alcanzar finalmente una serie de logros importantes a nivel de política ambiental durante la década de los 90. Sin embargo, y de manera extraña, desde el fin del priato en las elecciones de 2000 y el advenimiento de la democracia electoral en el país, el movimiento ecologista mexicano parece haberse debilitado, lo que ha resultado en una incidencia mu cho menor en la política ambiental del país. Este artículo analiza los factores que explican este fenómeno. Basándose en investigación de campo y una serie de exhaustivas entrevistas personales con actores estatales y no estatales, el artículo defiende la tesis de que el debilitamiento del movimiento ecologista mexicano se debe primordialmente a una falta de liderazgo provocada por el nombramiento de actores claves del movimiento en importantes cargos dentro de la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente durante la primera mitad del gobierno de Fox (2000-2006).

"This pioneering collection offers a comprehensive investigation into how to study public policy in Latin America. Although this region exhibits many similarities with the North American and European countries that have traditionally served as sources for generating public policy knowledge, Latin American countries are also different in many fundamental ways. As such, existing policy concepts and frameworks may not always be the most effective tools of analysis for this unique region. To fill this gap, Comparative Public Policy in Latin America offers guidelines for refining current theories to suit Latin America's contemporary institutional and socio-economic realities. The contributors accomplish this task by identifying the features of the region that shape public policy, including informal norms and practices, social inequality, and weak institutions. This book promises to become the definitive work on contemporary public policy in Latin America, essential for those who study the area as well as comparative public policy more broadly."--Page i

Research in advanced industrialized democracies on social attitudes toward same-sex marriage suggests that intergroup social contact and positive media coverage play an important role in promoting tolerance and support for same-sex marriage. Using AmericasBarometer survey data for eighteen countries in 2010, 2012, and 2014, this article examines the ways in which individual-level Internet use interacts with news exposure, country-level quality of democracy, Internet penetration, and their association with support for same-sex marriage. The results suggest that not only is Internet use associated with greater support for same-sex marriage, but that among those who both use the Internet and pay more attention to the news, the positive effects are amplified. In addition, national level of democracy, economic development, and Internet use are also associated with overall higher probabilities of supporting same-sex marriage. We find that Internet use has a strong positive association with the probability of supporting same-sex marriage as the percentage of the national population on the Internet increases. These findings extend our understanding of social and political tolerance of same-sex marriage in Latin America.

Research in advanced industrialized democracies on social attitudes toward same-sex marriage suggests that intergroup social contact and positive media coverage play an important role in promoting tolerance and support for same-sex marriage. Using AmericasBarometer survey data for eighteen countries in 2010, 2012, and 2014, this article examines the ways in which individual-level Internet use interacts with news exposure, country-level quality of democracy, Internet penetration, and their association with support for same-sex marriage. The results suggest that not only is Internet use associated with greater support for same-sex marriage, but that among those who both use the Internet and pay more attention to the news, the positive effects are amplified. In addition, national level of democracy, economic development, and Internet use are also associated with overall higher probabilities of supporting same-sex marriage. We find that Internet use has a strong positive association with the probability of supporting same-sex marriage as the percentage of the national population on the Internet increases. These findings extend our understanding of social and political tolerance of same-sex marriage in Latin America.Investigación en países industrializados sugiere que el contacto entre grupos sociales y la cobertura positiva de los mismos en medios de comunicación juegan un papel importante en la promoción de tolerancia y en aumentar apoyo al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. Basándonos en las encuestas del AmericasBarometer de 2010, 2012 y 2014, este artículo examina cómo el uso de la Internet interactúa con el consumo de noticias, la calidad de la democracia en el país, el grado nacional de penetración de la Internet, y su asociación con mayor apoyo al matrimonio igualitario. Estos resultados sugieren que no solamente existe una asociación entre el uso de la Internet y apoyo al matrimonio igualitario, pero que esta asociación amplifica los efectos positivos entre las personas que usan la Internet y prestan atención a las noticias. Además, la calidad de la democracia al nivel nacional, niveles de desarrollo económico, así como el uso de la Internet están también asociados con probabilidades mayores de apoyo. Encontramos que existe una fuerte asociación positiva entre el uso de la Internet y probabilidades de mayor apoyo conforme aumenta el porcentaje de la población con acceso a la Internet.

AbstractLatin America has been at the forefront of the expansion of rights for same-sex couples. Proponents of same-sex marriage frame the issue as related to human rights and democratic deepening; opponents emphasize morality tied to religious values. Elite framing shapes public opinion when frames resonate with individuals' values and the frame source is deemed credible. Using surveys in 18 Latin American countries in 2010 and 2012, this article demonstrates that democratic values are associated with support for same-sex marriage while religiosity reduces support, particularly among strong democrats. The tension between democratic and religious values is particularly salient for women, people who live outside the capital city, and people who came of age during or before democratization.