Reflections on Uneven Democracies

Reflections on Uneven Democracies PDF Author: Daniel Brinks
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421414619
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 665

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Book Description
A tour-de-force analysis of the current state of democracy studies as seen through the scholarly legacy of Guillermo O’Donnell. Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL The third wave of democratization produced a wealth of enduring social science. Beginning in the 1970s, it prompted scholars to develop important theories on authoritarian breakdowns and transitions to democracy. No one in the field was more influential than Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), whose pathbreaking work shaped the scholarship of generations of social scientists. Reflections on Uneven Democracies honors the legacy of O’Donnell’s research by advancing debates related to his work on democracy. Drawing together a veritable Who’s Who of eminent scholars—including two of O’Donnell’s closest collaborators, Philippe Schmitter and Laurence Whitehead—the volume examines issues related to democratic breakdowns and stability, the nature and quality of new democracies, institutional strength, the rule of law, and delegative democracy. This reexamination of some of the most influential arguments about democracy of the past forty years leads to original approaches and insights for a new era of democracy studies. Students of democracy and institutional performance, both Latin Americanists and comparativists more generally, will find this essential reading.

Reflections on Uneven Democracies

Reflections on Uneven Democracies PDF Author: Daniel Brinks
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421414619
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 665

Get Book Here

Book Description
A tour-de-force analysis of the current state of democracy studies as seen through the scholarly legacy of Guillermo O’Donnell. Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL The third wave of democratization produced a wealth of enduring social science. Beginning in the 1970s, it prompted scholars to develop important theories on authoritarian breakdowns and transitions to democracy. No one in the field was more influential than Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), whose pathbreaking work shaped the scholarship of generations of social scientists. Reflections on Uneven Democracies honors the legacy of O’Donnell’s research by advancing debates related to his work on democracy. Drawing together a veritable Who’s Who of eminent scholars—including two of O’Donnell’s closest collaborators, Philippe Schmitter and Laurence Whitehead—the volume examines issues related to democratic breakdowns and stability, the nature and quality of new democracies, institutional strength, the rule of law, and delegative democracy. This reexamination of some of the most influential arguments about democracy of the past forty years leads to original approaches and insights for a new era of democracy studies. Students of democracy and institutional performance, both Latin Americanists and comparativists more generally, will find this essential reading.

The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America

The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America PDF Author: Daniel M. Brinks
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108489338
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
Rather than an unintended by-product of poor state capacity, weak political and legal institutions are often weak by design.

The Social Constitution

The Social Constitution PDF Author: Whitney K. Taylor
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009367765
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Shows how legal mobilization embeds constitutions in everyday life, pushing newly codified rights from words on paper to meaningful tools.

Routledge Handbook of Law and Society in Latin America

Routledge Handbook of Law and Society in Latin America PDF Author: Rachel Sieder
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317291271
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 978

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Book Description
An understanding of law and its efficacy in Latin America demands concepts distinct from the hegemonic notions of "rule of law" which have dominated debates on law, politics and society, and that recognize the diversity of situations and contexts characterizing the region. The Routledge Handbook of Law and Society in Latin America presents cutting-edge analysis of the central theoretical and applied areas of enquiry in socio-legal studies in the region by leading figures in the study of law and society from Latin America, North America and Europe. Contributors argue that scholarship about Latin America has made vital contributions to longstanding and emerging theoretical and methodological debates on the relationship between law and society. Key topics examined include: The gap between law-on-the-books and law in action The implications of legal pluralism and legal globalization The legacies of experiences of transitional justice Emerging forms of socio-legal and political mobilization Debates concerning the relationship between the legal and the illegal. The Routledge Handbook of Law and Society in Latin America sets out new research agendas for cross-disciplinary socio-legal studies and will be of interest to those studying law, sociology of law, comparative Latin American politics, legal anthropology and development studies.

The Saints and the State

The Saints and the State PDF Author: James Simeone
Publisher: Ohio University Press
ISBN: 0821447386
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 539

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Book Description
A compelling history of the 1846 Mormon expulsion from Illinois that exemplifies the limits of American democracy and religious tolerance. When members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as Mormons) settled in Illinois in 1839, they had been persecuted for their beliefs from Ohio to Missouri. Illinoisans viewed themselves as religiously tolerant egalitarians and initially welcomed the Mormons to their state. However, non-Mormon locals who valued competitive individualism perceived the saints‘ western Illinois settlement, Nauvoo, as a theocracy with too much political power. Amid escalating tensions in 1844, anti-Mormon vigilantes assassinated church founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. Two years later, the state expelled the saints. Illinois rejected the Mormons not for their religion, but rather for their effort to create a self-governing state in Nauvoo. Mormons put the essential aspirations of American liberal democracy to the test in Illinois. The saints’ inward group focus and their decision to live together in Nauvoo highlight the challenges strong group consciousness and attachment pose to democratic governance. The Saints and the State narrates this tragic story as an epic failure of governance and shows how the conflicting demands of fairness to the Mormons and accountability to Illinois’s majority became incompatible.

The Limits of Judicialization

The Limits of Judicialization PDF Author: Sandra Botero
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009103415
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
Latin America was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of what has come to be known as the judicialization of politics - the use of law and legal institutions as tools of social contestation to curb the abuse of power in government, resolve policy disputes, and enforce and expand civil, political, and socio-economic rights. Almost forty years into this experiment, The Limits of Judicialization brings together a cross-disciplinary group of scholars to assess the role that law and courts play in Latin American politics. Featuring studies of hot-button topics including abortion, state violence, judicial corruption, and corruption prosecutions, this volume argues that the institutional and cultural changes that empowered courts, what the editors call the 'judicialization superstructure,' often fall short of the promise of greater accountability and rights protection. Illustrative and expansive, this volume offers a truly interdisciplinary analysis of the limits of judicialized politics.

Criminal Politics and Botched Development in Contemporary Latin America

Criminal Politics and Botched Development in Contemporary Latin America PDF Author: Andreas E. Feldmann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110896060X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
This Element investigates the relationship between the narcotics industry and politics and assesses how it influences domestic political dynamics, including economic development prospects in Latin America. It argues that links between criminal organizations, politicians, and state agents give rise to criminal politics (i.e., the interrelated activity of politicians, organized crime actors, and state agents in pursuing their respective agendas and goals). Criminal politics is upending how countries function politically and, consequently, impacting the prospects and nature of their social and economic development. The Element claims that diverse manifestations of criminal politics arise depending on how different phases of drug-trafficking activity (e.g., production, trafficking, and money laundering) interact with countries' distinct politico-institutional endowments. The argument is probed through the systematic examination of four cases that have received scant attention in the specialized literature: Chile,Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

The Political Economy of Statistical Capacity in Latin America

The Political Economy of Statistical Capacity in Latin America PDF Author: Eduardo Dargent
Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank
ISBN: 1597823201
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
Why is there a disparity in the levels of technical and institutional capacity of national statistical offices (NSOs) in the Latin American and Caribbean region? There is a consensus about the importance of having up-to-date and quality official statistics. The data from censuses, household surveys, and administrative records are an essential input for decision-making, and for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies in a country. However, this recognition of the value of statistics does not necessarily translate into greater support for the institutions responsible for their production. To understand the disparity in the capacity of NSOs, the publication provides an innovative approach: it uses the theoretical framework of the study of State capacity, and it develops a methodological framework to compare the political economy factors that influence statistical capacity, through case studies in ten countries of the region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Additionally, the publication offers a series of recommendations to strengthen the capacity of NSOs in the region, which include the implementation of institutional reforms to modernize the legal frameworks that govern NSOs in order to grant them more autonomy and allow them to assume a coordinating role of the national statistical system; the greater use of administrative records; the promotion of a dialogue between the NSOs and the community of data users; the establishment of links with non-governmental and international actors; and adherence to international standards and best practices for the production and dissemination of official statistics.

The Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Latin America

The Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Latin America PDF Author: Conrado Hübner Mendes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198786905
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 970

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Book Description
Constitutional law in Latin America embodies a mosaic of national histories, political experiments, and institutional transitions. No matter how distinctive these histories and transitions might be, there are still commonalities that transcend the mere geographical contiguity of these countries. This Handbook depicts the constitutional landscape of Latin America by shedding light on its most important differences and affinities, qualities and drawbacks, and by assessing its overall standing in the global enterprise of democratic constitutionalism. It engages with substantive and methodological conundrums of comparative constitutional law in the region, drawing meaningful comparisons between constitutional traditions. The volume is divided into two main parts. Part I focuses on exploring the constitutions for seventeen jurisdictions, offering a comprehensive country-by-country critique of the historical foundations, institutional architecture, and rights-based substantive identity of each constitution. Part II presents comparative analyses on the most controversial constitutional topics of the region, exploring central concepts in institutions and rights. The Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Latin America is an essential resource for scholars and students of comparative constitutional law, and Latin American politics and history Written by leading experts, it comprehensively examines constitutions, controversies, institutions, and constitutional rights in Latin America.

Environment, Power, and Justice

Environment, Power, and Justice PDF Author: Graeme Wynn
Publisher: Ohio University Press
ISBN: 0821447777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Spanning the colonial, postcolonial, and postapartheid eras, these historical and locally specific case studies analyze and engage vernacular, activist, and scholarly efforts to mitigate social-environmental inequity. This book highlights the ways poor and vulnerable people in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe have mobilized against the structural and political forces that deny them a healthy and sustainable environment. Spanning the colonial, postcolonial, and postapartheid eras, these studies engage vernacular, activist, and scholarly efforts to mitigate social-environmental inequity. Some chapters track the genealogies of contemporary activism, while others introduce positions, actors, and thinkers not previously identified with environmental justice. Addressing health, economic opportunity, agricultural policy, and food security, the chapters in this book explore a range of issues and ways of thinking about harm to people and their ecologies. Because environmental justice is often understood as a contemporary phenomenon framed around North American examples, these fresh case studies will enrich both southern African history and global environmental studies. Environment, Power, and Justice expands conceptions of environmental justice and reveals discourses and dynamics that advance both scholarship and social change. Contributors: Christopher Conz Marc Epprecht Mary Galvin Sarah Ives Admire Mseba Muchaparara Musemwa Matthew A. Schnurr Cherryl Walker