Politics and Political Elites in Latin America

Politics and Political Elites in Latin America PDF Author: Manuel Alcántara
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030515842
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents in-depth analyses of the data gathered for 26 years by the Political Elites of Latin America project (PELA), the most comprehensive database about the topic in the world. Since 1994, PELA has conducted around 9,000 personal interviews with representative samples of the Legislative Powers of 18 Latin American countries, generating a unique resource for the study of political elites in a comparative perspective. Now, this contributed volume brings together studies that dig into the data gathered by PELA to discuss important topics related to the challenges faced by representative democracy in Latin America. After an introductory chapter that presents the potential of the PELA database, the book is structured in two parts. The first addresses in eight chapters important aspects of representative democracy such as political ambition, political trust, satisfaction with democracy, clientelism and the quality of democracy. It then discusses three relevant issues in Latin American political dynamics such as executive-legislative relations, women's participation as representatives, and the meaning of China and the United States in national politics. The second part addresses in five chapters studies of seven national cases that are representative of regional heterogeneity. These chapters aim to examine parliamentarian elites’ attitudes in different political systems with regard to a variety of relevant issues such as institutional trust, satisfaction with democracy, Executive-Legislative relations, clientelism, and gender questions. Furthermore, these chapters intend to evince the evolution of such attitudes in the course of the last two decades. Politics and Political Elites in Latin America: Challenges and Trends will be of interest to scholars and students of comparative politics in general and, more particularly, to those interested in the challenges faced by representative democracy not only in Latin America, but in many parts of the world.

Politics and Political Elites in Latin America

Politics and Political Elites in Latin America PDF Author: Manuel Alcántara
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030515842
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents in-depth analyses of the data gathered for 26 years by the Political Elites of Latin America project (PELA), the most comprehensive database about the topic in the world. Since 1994, PELA has conducted around 9,000 personal interviews with representative samples of the Legislative Powers of 18 Latin American countries, generating a unique resource for the study of political elites in a comparative perspective. Now, this contributed volume brings together studies that dig into the data gathered by PELA to discuss important topics related to the challenges faced by representative democracy in Latin America. After an introductory chapter that presents the potential of the PELA database, the book is structured in two parts. The first addresses in eight chapters important aspects of representative democracy such as political ambition, political trust, satisfaction with democracy, clientelism and the quality of democracy. It then discusses three relevant issues in Latin American political dynamics such as executive-legislative relations, women's participation as representatives, and the meaning of China and the United States in national politics. The second part addresses in five chapters studies of seven national cases that are representative of regional heterogeneity. These chapters aim to examine parliamentarian elites’ attitudes in different political systems with regard to a variety of relevant issues such as institutional trust, satisfaction with democracy, Executive-Legislative relations, clientelism, and gender questions. Furthermore, these chapters intend to evince the evolution of such attitudes in the course of the last two decades. Politics and Political Elites in Latin America: Challenges and Trends will be of interest to scholars and students of comparative politics in general and, more particularly, to those interested in the challenges faced by representative democracy not only in Latin America, but in many parts of the world.

The Political Economy of Taxation in Latin America

The Political Economy of Taxation in Latin America PDF Author: Gustavo Flores-Macias
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108474578
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
Offers a comprehensive, region-wide analysis of the politics of taxation in Latin America to make reforms politically palatable and sustainable.

Private Wealth and Public Revenue

Private Wealth and Public Revenue PDF Author: Tasha Fairfield
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107088372
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book identifies sources of power that help business and economic elites influence policy decisions.

The Right in Latin America

The Right in Latin America PDF Author: Barry Cannon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113502183X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most current analysis on Latin American politics has been directed at examining the shift to the left in the region. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the reactions of the right to this phenomenon. What kind of discursive, policy, and strategic responses have emerged among the right in Latin America as a result of this historic turn to the left? Have there been any shifts in attitudes to inequality and poverty as a result of the successes of the left in those areas? How has the right responded strategically to regain the political initiative from the left? And what implications might such responses have for democracy in the region? The Right in Latin America seeks to provide answers to these questions while helping to fill a gap in the literature on contemporary Latin American politics. Unlike previous studies, Barry Cannon’s book does not simply concentrate on party political responses to the contemporary challenges for the right in the region. Rather he uses a wider, more comprehensive theoretical framework, grounded in political sociology, in recognition of the deep social roots of the right among Latin America’s elites, in a region known for its startling inequalities. Using Michael Mann’s pioneering work on power, he shows how elite dominance in the key areas of the economy, ideology, the military, and in transnational relations, has had a profound influence on the political strategies of the Latin American right. He shows how left governments, especially the more radical ones, have threatened elite power in these areas, influencing right-wing strategic responses as a result. These responses, he persuasively argues, can vary from elections, through street protests and media campaigns, to military coups, depending on the level of perceived threat felt by elites from the left. In this way, Cannon uncovers the dialectical nature of the left/right relationship in contemporary Latin American politics, while simultaneously providing pointers as to how the left can respond to the challenge of the right’s resurgence in the current context of left retrenchment. Cannon’s multi-faceted inter-disciplinary approach, including original research among right-leaning actors in the region makes the book an essential reference not only for those interested in the contemporary Latin American right but for anyone interested in the region’s politics at a critical juncture in its history.

Rooted Globalism

Rooted Globalism PDF Author: Kevin Funk
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 025306256X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
Does the concept of nationality apply to the economic elite, or have they shed national identities to form a global capitalist class? In Rooted Globalism, Kevin Funk unpacks dozens of ethnographic interviews he conducted with Latin America's urban-based, Arab-descendant elite class, some of whom also occupy positions of political power in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Based on extensive fieldwork, Funk illuminates how these elites navigate their Arab ancestry, Latin American host cultures, and roles as protagonists of globalization. With the term "rooted globalism," Funk captures the emergence of classed intersectional identities that are simultaneously local, national, transnational, and global. Focusing on an oft-ignored axis of South-South relations (between Latin America and the Arab world), Rooted Globalism provides detailed analysis of the identities, worldviews, and motivations of this group and ultimately reveals that rather than obliterating national identities, global capitalism relies on them.

Dominant Elites in Latin America

Dominant Elites in Latin America PDF Author: Liisa L. North
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9783319532547
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume examines the ways in which the socio-economic elites of the region have transformed and expanded the material bases of their power from the inception of neo-liberal policies in the 1970s through to the so-called progressive ‘pink tide’ governments of the past two decades. The six case study chapters—on Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala—variously explore how state policies and even United Nations peace-keeping missions have enhanced elite control of land and agricultural exports, banks and insurance companies, wholesale and import commerce, industrial activities, and alliances with foreign capital. Chapters also pay attention to the ways in which violence has been deployed to maintain elite power, and how international forces feed into sustaining historic and contemporary configurations of power.

Latin American Politics

Latin American Politics PDF Author: David Close
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442604190
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

Get Book Here

Book Description
Highlighting eleven different topics in separate chapters, the thematic approach of Latin American Politics offers students the conceptual tools they need to analyze the political systems of all twenty Latin American nations. Such a structure makes the book self-consciously comparative, allowing students to become stronger analysts of comparative politics and better political scientists in general.

The Role of Elites in Economic Development

The Role of Elites in Economic Development PDF Author: the late Alice H. Amsden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191634077
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
Elites have a disproportionate impact on development outcomes. While a country's endowments constitute the deep determinates of growth, the trajectory they follow is shaped by the actions of elites. But what factors affect whether elites use their influence for individual gain or national welfare? To what extent do they see poverty as a problem? And are their actions today constrained by institutions and norms established in the past? This volume looks at case studies from South Africa to China to seek a better understanding of the dynamics behind how elites decide to engage with economic development. Approaches include economic modelling, social surveys, theoretical analysis, and program evaluation. These different methods explore the relationship between elites and development outcomes from five angles: the participation and reaction of elites to institutional creation and change, how economic changes affect elite formation and circulation, elite perceptions of national welfare, the extent to which state capacity is part of elite self-identity, and how elites interact with non-elites.

The Political Economy of Elites in Latin America

The Political Economy of Elites in Latin America PDF Author: Jan Ickler
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 104027644X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Get Book Here

Book Description
Recent years have seen renewed interest in elites around the world, and their interconnection with power, privilege, social stratification, and social change. The contributors to this edited volume explore the many facets of the role of elites in the political economy of Latin America: their position within society, their impact upon the economy, and their influence within governing institutions. The book demonstrates that in Latin America, as in many other parts of the world, structural change and movements toward more just, inclusive, and sustainable societies seem impossible without the involvement of elites at some level. This raises important questions: Under what conditions do elites push for reform? How do elites react to societal and economic challenges and changes? To what extent can popular classes successfully pressure elites? Bringing together a selection of case studies covering different Latin American countries, the book focuses on three key themes to address these questions: first, it explores how elites react to economic and societal challenges with some chapters looking at moments of change, as well as measures taken by individual elites to alter the status quo. Second, it seeks to understand the interrelation between external and domestic factors that engender elite action including global markets, geopolitics, state institutions, social forces, and the internal structure of elite groups. Third, it reflects upon methodological questions of studying elites in Latin America, laying bare the potential pitfalls and offering possible routes to further inquiry. This book will be vital reading for researchers in political economy, development economics, economic sociology, and Latin American studies more broadly.

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

Get Book Here

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.