Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1177/1866802x20923507
{"title":"Corrigendum to Digital Activism and Indignation Nets in Brazil: The Pressure Groups","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/1866802x20923507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802x20923507","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802x20923507","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42371504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X20913886
Andrés Santana, J. R. Montero, José Rama
This article puts Down’s instrumental voter model (IVM) to a formal test using data of the 2017 Chilean national elections. It aims at two novel exercises in the research in the calculus of voting. Using a brand-new questionnaire with indicators on instrumental and consumption motivations for voting, we reassess the voting equation in Santiago de Chile. Furthermore, we analyse whether instrumental and consumption motivations have distinctive effects for individuals with different socio-demographic characteristics. Our results show that they do: women, younger, lower educated, and unmarried citizens are more responsive to both instrumental and consumption motivations. Moreover, the factors of the IVM travel better to Santiago de Chile than those of the consumption model.
{"title":"Reassessing Downs: Testing the Influence of Voters’ Characteristics in a Chilean Presidential Election","authors":"Andrés Santana, J. R. Montero, José Rama","doi":"10.1177/1866802X20913886","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X20913886","url":null,"abstract":"This article puts Down’s instrumental voter model (IVM) to a formal test using data of the 2017 Chilean national elections. It aims at two novel exercises in the research in the calculus of voting. Using a brand-new questionnaire with indicators on instrumental and consumption motivations for voting, we reassess the voting equation in Santiago de Chile. Furthermore, we analyse whether instrumental and consumption motivations have distinctive effects for individuals with different socio-demographic characteristics. Our results show that they do: women, younger, lower educated, and unmarried citizens are more responsive to both instrumental and consumption motivations. Moreover, the factors of the IVM travel better to Santiago de Chile than those of the consumption model.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X20913886","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49515501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X20919550
Diego Esparza, Antonio Ugues
Pandemic violence and criminality are anathema to a democratic society. And yet, in Latin America, both operate side by side. Illicit activity has propagated precisely because the democratic states of the region have been ineffective at establishing and maintaining the rule of law via public security mechanisms like the police. This ineffectiveness has significant consequences for public support of police forces. Hence, an important question for students of state-building and democratisation is: What factors explain public perceptions of the police? We argue that police forces that are local and unprofessional will be less trusted and viewed as less effective than their more centralised and professional counterparts of state and federal police. In short, we find that centralisation and professionalisation mitigate the impact of crime victimisation and police corruption on the public opinion of the police in Mexico. These findings are drawn from an analysis of the National Survey of Victimisation and Perceptions of Public Security (ENVIPE) in Mexico for 2012 and 2018.
{"title":"The Impact of Law Enforcement Centralisation and Professionalisation on Public Opinion of the Mexican Police","authors":"Diego Esparza, Antonio Ugues","doi":"10.1177/1866802X20919550","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X20919550","url":null,"abstract":"Pandemic violence and criminality are anathema to a democratic society. And yet, in Latin America, both operate side by side. Illicit activity has propagated precisely because the democratic states of the region have been ineffective at establishing and maintaining the rule of law via public security mechanisms like the police. This ineffectiveness has significant consequences for public support of police forces. Hence, an important question for students of state-building and democratisation is: What factors explain public perceptions of the police? We argue that police forces that are local and unprofessional will be less trusted and viewed as less effective than their more centralised and professional counterparts of state and federal police. In short, we find that centralisation and professionalisation mitigate the impact of crime victimisation and police corruption on the public opinion of the police in Mexico. These findings are drawn from an analysis of the National Survey of Victimisation and Perceptions of Public Security (ENVIPE) in Mexico for 2012 and 2018.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X20919550","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42500128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X20915477
M. Wolff
The proliferation of armed, anti-crime self-defence groups (autodefensas) in Mexico since 2013 has sparked renewed scholarly interest in vigilantism and the politics of collective violence more generally. Whilst most of this recent scholarship attempts to explain where and why such groups emerge in the first place, very little attention has been paid to the micro-foundations of vigilante organisation and behaviour. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Mexico in 2018, and incorporating theoretical insights from the social movements, civil war, and organised crime literatures, this paper examines the political strategies and collection action regimes of contemporary vigilante mobilisation. I argue that vigilante groups in Mexico employ the tactics of popular insurgency both as a negotiating tool to influence government behaviour or policy, and as a primary mechanism to overcome collection action problems in high-risk environments.
{"title":"Insurgent Vigilantism and Drug War in Mexico","authors":"M. Wolff","doi":"10.1177/1866802X20915477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X20915477","url":null,"abstract":"The proliferation of armed, anti-crime self-defence groups (autodefensas) in Mexico since 2013 has sparked renewed scholarly interest in vigilantism and the politics of collective violence more generally. Whilst most of this recent scholarship attempts to explain where and why such groups emerge in the first place, very little attention has been paid to the micro-foundations of vigilante organisation and behaviour. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Mexico in 2018, and incorporating theoretical insights from the social movements, civil war, and organised crime literatures, this paper examines the political strategies and collection action regimes of contemporary vigilante mobilisation. I argue that vigilante groups in Mexico employ the tactics of popular insurgency both as a negotiating tool to influence government behaviour or policy, and as a primary mechanism to overcome collection action problems in high-risk environments.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X20915477","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48307643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X20914429
Matthew L. Layton
Some observers claim that conditional cash transfer programmes limit the stigma of taking welfare and thereby promote social inclusion for beneficiaries. This article uses data from the 2014 AmericasBarometer to test these claims in relation to Brazil’s Bolsa Família programme (BFP). The results show that, despite the programme’s innovative design, beneficiaries encounter the stigmatisation and negative self-stereotypes that characterise more traditional anti-poverty programmes. Many Brazilians, recipient and non-recipient alike, endorse explicitly negative stereotypes of Bolsa Família assistance recipients. Moreover, the level to which respondents endorse these stereotypes strongly predicts their level of support for the BFP. These results highlight the pervasive nature of negative stereotypes towards the poor, even in the context of the developing world, and are consistent with the predictions of social psychological theories of system justification.
{"title":"Welfare Stereotypes and Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: Evidence from Brazil’s Bolsa Família","authors":"Matthew L. Layton","doi":"10.1177/1866802X20914429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X20914429","url":null,"abstract":"Some observers claim that conditional cash transfer programmes limit the stigma of taking welfare and thereby promote social inclusion for beneficiaries. This article uses data from the 2014 AmericasBarometer to test these claims in relation to Brazil’s Bolsa Família programme (BFP). The results show that, despite the programme’s innovative design, beneficiaries encounter the stigmatisation and negative self-stereotypes that characterise more traditional anti-poverty programmes. Many Brazilians, recipient and non-recipient alike, endorse explicitly negative stereotypes of Bolsa Família assistance recipients. Moreover, the level to which respondents endorse these stereotypes strongly predicts their level of support for the BFP. These results highlight the pervasive nature of negative stereotypes towards the poor, even in the context of the developing world, and are consistent with the predictions of social psychological theories of system justification.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X20914429","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43705831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X20913287
J. Hiskey, M. Malone, Alejandro Díaz-Domínguez
In times of crisis, citizens’ support for democracy can depend on how well they think their democracy can address that crisis compared to authoritarian alternatives. Mexico is in the midst of just such a crisis, as its war on drug trafficking organisations has brought an unprecedented rise in violence and, in some areas, posed a direct challenge to the state’s capacity to govern. At the same time, its subnational political landscape ranges from vibrant, multi-party states to those with continued connections to a dominant one-party past. We leverage these variations in subnational political context and levels of drug-related violence to examine how the subnational political context mediates the relationship between a crisis and support for non-democratic alternatives. When faced with a violent shock to the system, public attitudes towards democracy depend in part on one’s experiences with non-democratic alternatives and whether these authoritarian options appear to solve the crisis at hand more effectively.
{"title":"Authoritarian Recall: Mexico’s Drug War and Subnational Patterns of Opposition to Democracy","authors":"J. Hiskey, M. Malone, Alejandro Díaz-Domínguez","doi":"10.1177/1866802X20913287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X20913287","url":null,"abstract":"In times of crisis, citizens’ support for democracy can depend on how well they think their democracy can address that crisis compared to authoritarian alternatives. Mexico is in the midst of just such a crisis, as its war on drug trafficking organisations has brought an unprecedented rise in violence and, in some areas, posed a direct challenge to the state’s capacity to govern. At the same time, its subnational political landscape ranges from vibrant, multi-party states to those with continued connections to a dominant one-party past. We leverage these variations in subnational political context and levels of drug-related violence to examine how the subnational political context mediates the relationship between a crisis and support for non-democratic alternatives. When faced with a violent shock to the system, public attitudes towards democracy depend in part on one’s experiences with non-democratic alternatives and whether these authoritarian options appear to solve the crisis at hand more effectively.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X20913287","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49514112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X19889756
I. Mendes
This article discusses the issue of inclusion in peace negotiations, in particular the Colombian peace process with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia, with special emphasis to a perceived tension between “direct” and “indirect” inclusive initiatives. It argues that, as currently discussed by the Peace and Conflict literature, inclusion tends to be seen as neutral and benign, which leaves little room for critical discussions about the political contention behind peace negotiations deemed “inclusive.” It thus proposes to discuss inclusion through the theoretical lens of political representation and apply such reflections to the specific case of the Colombian victims’ delegations that travelled to Havana in 2014 in order to take part in the table’s discussions on the victims and transitional justice topic. Ultimately, I will argue there was simultaneous utilisation and rejection of the language of representation.
{"title":"Inclusion and Political Representation in Peace Negotiations: The Case of the Colombian Victims’ Delegations","authors":"I. Mendes","doi":"10.1177/1866802X19889756","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X19889756","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the issue of inclusion in peace negotiations, in particular the Colombian peace process with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia, with special emphasis to a perceived tension between “direct” and “indirect” inclusive initiatives. It argues that, as currently discussed by the Peace and Conflict literature, inclusion tends to be seen as neutral and benign, which leaves little room for critical discussions about the political contention behind peace negotiations deemed “inclusive.” It thus proposes to discuss inclusion through the theoretical lens of political representation and apply such reflections to the specific case of the Colombian victims’ delegations that travelled to Havana in 2014 in order to take part in the table’s discussions on the victims and transitional justice topic. Ultimately, I will argue there was simultaneous utilisation and rejection of the language of representation.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X19889756","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43683600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X19894791
Sebastián Pereyra
The 1990s witnessed the spread of anti-corruption scandals in Latin American countries as well as a decade in which international transparency standards were developed. These two processes were closely related but they followed different local and global political dynamics. Transparency policies were perceived everywhere as a good response to the growing of corruption scandals. But, at the end of the day, the effectiveness of these policies was far from optimal. This article discusses the link between these two main aspects of the corruption as a public problem in Argentina. It reconstructs the dynamics of corruption scandals and state responses in Argentina during the 1990s, and asks how effective and efficient those responses were given the type of accusations and corruption cases exposed to the public through scandals. The hypothesis is that scandals, on the one hand, and public policy responses, on the other, refer to different aspects of the same problem and that the latter have failed to deal effectively with the demands and claims expressed through the scandals.
{"title":"Corruption Scandals and Anti-Corruption Policies in Argentina","authors":"Sebastián Pereyra","doi":"10.1177/1866802X19894791","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X19894791","url":null,"abstract":"The 1990s witnessed the spread of anti-corruption scandals in Latin American countries as well as a decade in which international transparency standards were developed. These two processes were closely related but they followed different local and global political dynamics. Transparency policies were perceived everywhere as a good response to the growing of corruption scandals. But, at the end of the day, the effectiveness of these policies was far from optimal. This article discusses the link between these two main aspects of the corruption as a public problem in Argentina. It reconstructs the dynamics of corruption scandals and state responses in Argentina during the 1990s, and asks how effective and efficient those responses were given the type of accusations and corruption cases exposed to the public through scandals. The hypothesis is that scandals, on the one hand, and public policy responses, on the other, refer to different aspects of the same problem and that the latter have failed to deal effectively with the demands and claims expressed through the scandals.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X19894791","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44691034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X19889757
Osmany Porto de Oliveira
The importation of foreign models is part of Brazil’s institution building story, owing to its Portuguese colonisation and the influence of European countries and the United States. After the transition to democracy and the Constitution of 1988, the scenario began to change. The country developed social policy innovations that rose to a national scale when the Workers’ Party took office. These innovations started to spread globally, and international organisations began to recommend Brazilian social policies. Examples of Brazilian policies that have been transferred are the Family Allowance and the National School Feeding Programs. How has Brazil moved from importing foreign institutions to becoming a Southern country reference in terms of social policies? The main argument here is that Brazil, while building itself into a rising power, has developed new patterns of policy transfers that have so far been overlooked by the field literature. Through a process-tracing analysis of Brazil’s social policy diffusion, we have been able to identify different forces that facilitate these transfers, such as a quest for international legitimacy, the role of “policy ambassadors,” the joint efforts of various national institutions, Brazilians occupying positions in international organisations, and the creation of institutions designed for these policy transfers.
{"title":"Brazil Exporting Social Policies: From Local Innovation to a Global Model","authors":"Osmany Porto de Oliveira","doi":"10.1177/1866802X19889757","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X19889757","url":null,"abstract":"The importation of foreign models is part of Brazil’s institution building story, owing to its Portuguese colonisation and the influence of European countries and the United States. After the transition to democracy and the Constitution of 1988, the scenario began to change. The country developed social policy innovations that rose to a national scale when the Workers’ Party took office. These innovations started to spread globally, and international organisations began to recommend Brazilian social policies. Examples of Brazilian policies that have been transferred are the Family Allowance and the National School Feeding Programs. How has Brazil moved from importing foreign institutions to becoming a Southern country reference in terms of social policies? The main argument here is that Brazil, while building itself into a rising power, has developed new patterns of policy transfers that have so far been overlooked by the field literature. Through a process-tracing analysis of Brazil’s social policy diffusion, we have been able to identify different forces that facilitate these transfers, such as a quest for international legitimacy, the role of “policy ambassadors,” the joint efforts of various national institutions, Brazilians occupying positions in international organisations, and the creation of institutions designed for these policy transfers.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X19889757","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46335909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/1866802X19894471
James Meernik
In the aftermath of war and large-scale violence, how can nations function as societies? How can people learn to live together again? Or, have the foundations of trust, civility, and predictability upon which fully functioning societies depend been irrevocably damaged? If we want to understand why reconciliation does or does not take root, we must begin by understanding the perspectives and interests of individuals. In this article, I develop such a model of individual attitudes towards reconciliation. In particular, I analyse the determinants of individual beliefs about reconciliation, with a particular emphasis on the impact of violence in Colombia. I combine survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project survey on individual attitudes regarding reconciliation with data on political violence to measure the extent to which individuals live in environments characterised by violence and how this shapes their opinions about reconciliation.
{"title":"Violence and Reconciliation in Colombia: The Personal and the Contextual","authors":"James Meernik","doi":"10.1177/1866802X19894471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X19894471","url":null,"abstract":"In the aftermath of war and large-scale violence, how can nations function as societies? How can people learn to live together again? Or, have the foundations of trust, civility, and predictability upon which fully functioning societies depend been irrevocably damaged? If we want to understand why reconciliation does or does not take root, we must begin by understanding the perspectives and interests of individuals. In this article, I develop such a model of individual attitudes towards reconciliation. In particular, I analyse the determinants of individual beliefs about reconciliation, with a particular emphasis on the impact of violence in Colombia. I combine survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project survey on individual attitudes regarding reconciliation with data on political violence to measure the extent to which individuals live in environments characterised by violence and how this shapes their opinions about reconciliation.","PeriodicalId":44885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politics in Latin America","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1866802X19894471","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41609092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}