Suchergebnisse

The collapse of the Venezuelan party system stirred controversy because it was considered one of the most consolidated political systems of Latin America. Several studies have analyzed the causes that contributed to this collapse. None, however, have studied the restructuring process that happened later. Through a study of all the electoral processes since 1958 this article shows the existence of tensions between forces that promote nationalization and regionalization strategies. With this analysis it's possible to understand that partisan strategy has been essential in the nationalization/regionalization process of the different post-collapse parties. ; El colapso del sistema de partidos venezolano generó polémica debido a que éste se considera uno de los sistemas políticos más consolidados de Latinoamérica. Numerosos estudios han analizado las causas que contribuyeron a este colapso. Sin embargo, no existen estudios que muestren el proceso de reestructuración del mismo. A través del estudio de los procesos electorales venezolanos desde 1958 hasta el presente, este artículo muestra la existencia de tensiones entre fuerzas que promueven la nacionalización y la regionalización de partidos. Este análisis permite entender cómo la estrategia partidista ha sido clave en los procesos de nacionalización y regionalización de los diferentes partidos políticos del sistema postcolapso.

There is a broad array of literature analyzing the interaction between domestic and foreign policy. In this regard, we have recently seen that strategic politicians use divisive foreign leaders as a tool to take advantage of in domestic politics. Nevertheless, the use of these leaders in domestic campaigns – and particularly the reasons why this occurs – has not received much attention in academia. In this paper, we attempt to approach this topic by identifying when conditions are ripe for this strategic use of foreign leaders in domestic politics. More specifically, we argue that the image of foreign leaders can be used when they present the conditions to become a wedge issue. We explore this question by using survey data on views of Chávez across Latin America together with political and economic indicators between 2005 and 2011. We find that perceptions of Chavismo are divisive in countries in which the incumbent government is ruled by a left-wing administration. Similarly, we show that, in those countries, Chavismo has all the conditions to become a wedge issue, as opponents have a homogeneously negative perception of that political movement, while government supporters are divided in their views of Chavismo. ; Existe una amplia gama de literatura que analiza la interacción entre la política interna y externa. En este sentido, recientemente hemos visto que los políticos estratégicos utilizan líderes extranjeros divisivos como una herramienta para aprovechar en la política interna. Sin embargo, el uso de estos líderes en campañas nacionales, y particularmente las razones por las cuales esto ocurre, no ha recibido mucha atención en la academia. En este artículo, tratamos de abordar este tema identificando cuándo las condiciones están maduras para este uso estratégico de los líderes extranjeros en la política interna. Más específicamente, argumentamos que la imagen de los líderes extranjeros puede usarse cuando presentan las condiciones para convertirse en un problema de cuña. Exploramos esta pregunta mediante el uso de datos de encuestas sobre puntos de vista de Chávez en América Latina junto con indicadores políticos y económicos entre 2005 y 2011. Descubrimos que las percepciones del chavismo son divisivas en países en los que el gobierno en funciones está gobernado por una administración de izquierda. Del mismo modo, mostramos que, en esos países, el chavismo tiene todas las condiciones para convertirse en un problema de cuña, ya que los opositores tienen una percepción homogéneamente negativa de ese movimiento político, mientras que los partidarios del gobierno están divididos en sus puntos de vista sobre el chavismo. ; Existe uma ampla gama de literatura analisando a interação entre política interna e política externa. Nesse sentido, vimos recentemente que políticos estratégicos usam líderes estrangeiros divisivos como uma ferramenta para tirar proveito da política doméstica. No entanto, o uso desses líderes em campanhas domésticas - e particularmente as razões pelas quais isso ocorre - não recebeu muita atenção na academia. Neste artigo, tentamos abordar esse tópico, identificando quando as condições estão maduras para esse uso estratégico de líderes estrangeiros na política doméstica. Mais especificamente, argumentamos que a imagem de líderes estrangeiros pode ser usada quando eles apresentam condições para se tornar uma questão de cunha. Exploramos essa questão usando dados de pesquisas sobre pontos de vista de Chávez na América Latina, juntamente com indicadores políticos e econômicos entre 2005 e 2011. Descobrimos que as percepções do Chavismo são divisórias nos países em que o governo em exercício é governado por uma administração de esquerda. Da mesma forma, mostramos que, nesses países, o Chavismo tem todas as condições para se tornar uma questão de cunha, pois os oponentes têm uma percepção negativa homogênea desse movimento político, enquanto os apoiadores do governo estão divididos em suas opiniões sobre o Chavismo.

Attitudes towards homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the Americas and Europe have been found to be tightly related to religion, and especially, how religion is practiced. However, religious individuals are not consistent in their rejection of homosexuality. We explore how religions and religious individuals differ among each other in attitudes towards not just homosexuality, but also other policy areas they consider sins, such as marihuana consumption, abortion, euthanasia, use of contraceptives, and pre-marital sex. Using data for Colombia, we find that Evangelicals are the most reliable opponents of LGBT rights in the country and reject homosexuality more deeply than other sins. They thus target homosexuality distinctively. We also find that attitudes toward homosexuality among Evangelicals seem unresponsive to education. Because of this more pronounced homophobia among Evangelicals, we thus conclude that countries like Colombia that are experiencing increases in the population and levels of organization of Evangelicals are likely to face greater backlash against the expansion of LGBT rights.

¿Tienen las comisiones permanentes jurisdicciones políticas que son respetadas por el Plenario de la Cámara? ¿Pueden dichas comisiones imponer preferencias que son distintas a las de los votantes medianos de sus Cámaras? Luego de dos décadas de competencia democrática, los investigadores interesados en entender las legislaturas de América Latina tenemos a disposición una gran cantidad de material cuantitativo y cualitativo que nos permite modelar las interacciones entre los miembros individuales, colectivos y las instituciones legislativas que regulan el tratamiento y sanción de proyectos de ley. En este artículo nos enfocamos en un problema que ha recibido muy poca atención en la literatura legislativa de América Latina: la relación que existe entre las preferencias de los miembros de las comisiones permanentes y las preferencias del plenario. En particular, analizamos si las ventajas en el acceso a información y en la composición de las comisiones permanentes afectan la aprobación de legislación en el plenario. ; Do the permanent committees have political jurisdictions that are respected by the Plenary of the House? Can these committees impose preferences that are different from those of the medium voters of their cameras? After two decades of democratic competition, the researchers interested in understanding the Latin American legislatures have available a large amount of quantitative and quality material that allows us to model the interactions between individual and collective members; and legislative institutions that regulate the treatment and sanctioning bills. In this article we focus on a problem that has received little attention in the Latin American legislation literature: the relationship between the preferences of members of the permanent committees and the preferences of the plenary. In particular, we analyze whether the advantages access to information and the composition of permanent committees affect the passing of legislation in the plenary.

ObjectiveWhile selective issue emphasis is a widely recognized strategy of party competition, we have little knowledge about how coalition parties interact with each other when deciding which policy issues to emphasize. Therefore we ask: Who leads and who follows the issue agenda in coalition governments? Methods. We create an issue attention data set using quantitative text analysis from over 40,000 press releases. We use this data set and time series cross‐section regression analysis to study the dynamics of coalition parties' issue attention. Results. We find that junior coalition parties are more responsive to their senior partners than senior partners to their junior partners. Hence, while coalition partners generally follow each other, senior partners enjoy a stronger leadership role in the cabinet. Conclusion. Coalition parties indeed coordinate their issue priorities as they respond to each other's issue agenda. However, due the asymmetric power distribution in coalition cabinets, it is not a negotiation process on equal footing.

Why do political parties prioritise some policy issues over others? While the issue ownership theory suggests that parties emphasise policy issues on which they have an advantage in order to increase the salience of these issues among voters, the riding the wave theory argues instead that parties respond to voters by highlighting policy issues that are salient in the minds of citizens. This study sheds new light on the selective issue emphasis of political parties by analysing issue attention throughout the entire electoral cycle. On the basis of a quantitative text analysis of more than 40,000 press releases published by German parties from 2000 until 2010, this article provides empirical support for the riding the wave theory. It shows that political parties take their cues from voters by responding to the issue priorities of their electorate. The results have important implications for political representation and the role that parties play in democracies.

Coalition parties have to reconcile two competing logics: they need to demonstrate unity to govern together, but also have to emphasize their own profile to succeed in elections. We argue that the electoral cycle explains whether unity or differentiation prevails. While differentiation dominates at the beginning and the end of the legislative term in close proximity to elections, compromise dominates the middle of the term when coalition governments focus on enacting a common policy agenda. To test our theoretical claims, we draw on an innovative quantitative text analysis of more than 21,000 press releases published by coalition parties from 2000 until 2010.

How does ideological congruency affect the speed of legislative decision-making in the European Union? Despite the crucial importance of actor preferences, the effect of partisan alignments and ideological composition of the European institutions has largely been neglected. However, we argue that the ideological congruence between legislative bodies has an important effect on the duration of policy-making. We test our theoretical expectations based on a large new dataset on decision-making speed in the European Union using event history analysis. The findings confirm our theoretical claim indicating that the ideological distance between the European institutions slows down policy-making which has important implications for the problem-solving capacity of political systems more generally.