Suchergebnisse

A growing body of literature has emerged that examines the contributions of mid‐level institutions of accountability (e.g., public ministries, federal police, and electoral courts) in curbing corruption. Notably absent here is the Defensor del Pueblo (ombudsman). This study posits that, under the right conditions, these nonsanctioning bodies have several tools at their disposal that can be leveraged against state actors to reduce corruption. The ombudsman's unique links to the public (or principal) and external actors allow it to function like a "fourth estate," but the strength of the office to act as an effective deterrent to corruption is endogenous to the system and actors that created this office. This study conducts a two‐stage least squares regression analysis for 17 Latin American countries (2000–2011), provides support for these expectations, and suggests that the ombudsman is beginning to deliver on its promise, at least with respect to corruption.

AbstractDemocratic institutions, ranging from constitutional provisions and electoral rules to judiciaries, have been important in improving the rights of citizens across the world. If institutions matter for human rights, then it stands to reason that institutions built specifically to protect human rights, like the human rights ombudsman, should matter too. Using a comparative case study approach, this article examines the effect of the human rights ombudsman at the regional level on several human rights measures in Latin America between 1982 and 2011. The results suggest that the presence of an ombudsman, and some of its design features, have had effects on some social and economic rights, in keeping with the broad mandate given to this office.

Colombia conducts national legislative and presidential elections every four years. The elections to the bicameral legislature occurred in March, just two months shy of the first round of the presidential contest. This election cycle was important for several important developments. First, the 2010 electoral contest represented the official end of President Alvaro Uribe's tenure in office. Second, this is only the second time that Colombians have elected their legislators in preferential voting contests. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

Recently, the Colombian party system has undergone dramatic change as 'new' political actors have become increasingly successful in national legislative elections. This paper conducts a two-fold analysis of changes in the Colombian party system. First, the study explores several factors, linked to electoral & registration reforms, which have led to the increased share of seats awarded to 'new' actors, from 1982 to 1998. Next, it examines the substantive effects of those changes for the kinds of policies & issues pursued by new & traditional parties in the national legislature. The findings suggest that in spite of notable changes that have lead to a proliferation of new actors, the Colombian political system has not been radically changed. In other words, it is not evident that reforms have produced truly distinct political alternatives in Colombia. I argue that this is largely a function of incomplete reforms that allowed for the 'legalization' of traditional party factions & the persistence of electoral incentives that do not encourage distinct forms of behavior. 5 Tables, 39 References. [Copyright 2004 Elsevier Ltd.]

Recent research points to the importance of subnational elections as variables shaping the national party system in federal states (Jones 1997b; Mainwaring and Shugart 1997; Samuels 2000). I propose that the effects of subnational elections are not limited to federal states but instead can be seen throughout the region. This paper examines the impacts of gubernatorial elections across eighteen Latin American countries during the most recent democratic period. The analysis suggests that intermediate subnational elections do exert an influence on national party systems, whether the state is federal or not, and particularly influence how many parties are elected to a legislature's lower house.