Suchergebnisse

AbstractFernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil and Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala are PhD sociologists who served as presidents of their countries. Jože Pučnik of Slovenia, also a PhD sociologist, was a leading but defeated candidate in his country's first post-communist presidential election. This paper explores the relationship between their sociological work and their political careers. Cardoso's work was interdisciplinary and focused on historical conjunctures. He was very widely cited in scholarly publications. Pučnik was concerned with overcoming fundamentalist megaliths and uniting theory and practice. He had difficulty communicating the relationship between his sociology and his political leadership. Arévalo wrote a dissertation in the historical sociology of Guatemalan militarism, and also pursued an applied sociological career in conflict resolution. Sociological leadership may be enhanced by using middle-range theories tuned to current situations, especially at times of crisis, and by advocating timely and feasible solutions.

Latin American corruption is rooted in historical tradition, but also in psychological, economic & political problems that are found all over the world. Corruption sometimes leads to short periods of rapid economic growth, but only because the state has failed to provide the conditions for sustained growth. Corruption contributes to long term economic sluggishness, which is then rationalized with ideological scapegoats. The socialist & nationalist ideologies which predominated among Latin American leftists & intellectuals have lost their force, but many politicians find this difficult to acknowledge this publicly. This has led to the emergence of a new type of leader, the chameleon, who reveals his true colors only after an election. In the long term, international competition in the global economy will reward those nations that develop modern transparent economies. Charts, References. Adapted from the source document.