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This report addresses the ongoing social, political, and economic challenges underway in Bolivia and presents a clear set of recommendations for the U.S. government. Gamarra argues that with ethnic, regional, and political tensions in Bolivia on the rise, Washingtons current wait and see approach to the Morales government is no longer adequate. Gamarra encourages the U.S. government to redirect its policy toward Bolivia with an emphasis on preservation of democratic process and conflict prevention.
"Third, the authors investigate the relationship between major parties and the state, revealing the extent to which parties are dependent on state resources to maintain power and win votes. Fourth, the contributions assess the importance of different electoral regimes for shaping broader patterns of party competition. Finally, and most important, the authors characterize the nature of the party system in each country - how institutionalized it is and how it can be classified."--BOOK JACKET.
For supplementary documentation and useful websites, click here. This perceptive book critically explores why the United States continues to pursue failed policies in Latin America. What elements of the U.S. and Latin American political systems have allowed the Cold War, the war on drugs, and the war on terror to be conflated? Why do U.S. policies--ostensibly designed to promote the rule of law, human rights, and democracy--instead contribute to widespread corruption, erosion of government authority, human rights violations, and increasing destabilization? Why have the war on drugs and the war on terror neither reduced narcotics trafficking nor increased citizen security in Latin America? Wh...
Bolivian President Evo Morales has allied himself with Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Cuba's Fidel Castro, taken steps to nationalize Bolivia's gas industry, and announced an overhaul of coca policy. This report outlines U.S. policy options for dealing with Morales and this volatile but important region.Eduardo A. Gamarra's analysis takes into account the evolution of the Morales administration, potential for violent conflict in Bolivia, and core problems that fuel anti-American sentiment. He argues that U.S. policy toward Bolivia must move away from a cold war approach and deemphasize the war on drugs. Regardless of its international alignments, Washington must construct working relations and strong lines of communication with the Bolivian government to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. In addition, the United States should deepen democracy initiatives, better publicize its social programming, promote trade, and restart bilateral military assistance. It should also provide Bolivia with the opportunity to accede to the Millennium Challenge Account. And, if social unrest erupts in Bolivia, the United States should be better prepared to work with the country's neighbors.
Brings together leading scholars to examine the question of whether presidentialism or parliamentarism offers the best hope for stable government and democratic continuity. This edition offers comparative perspectives.
In the context of the global decline of democracy, The Authoritarian Divide analyzes the tactics that populist leaders in Turkey, Venezuela, and Ecuador have used to polarize their countries. Political polarization is traditionally viewed as the result of competing left/right ideologies. In The Authoritarian Divide, Orçun Selçuk argues that, regardless of ideology, polarization is driven by dominant populist leaders who deliberately divide constituents by cultivating a dichotomy of inclusion and exclusion. This practice, known as affective leader polarization, stymies compromise and undermines the democratic process. Drawing on multiple qualitative and quantitative methodologies for support, as well as content from propaganda media such as public speeches, Muhtar Meetings, Aló Presidente, and Enlace Ciudadano, Selçuk details and analyzes the tactics used by three well-known populist leaders to fuel affective leader polarization: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, and Rafael Correa in Ecuador. Selçuk’s work provides a rubric for a better understanding of—and potential defense against—the rise in polarizing populism across the globe.
This volume examines the impact of coca and the cocaine trade on Bolivia, the poorest and most vulnerable of the South American countries. Topics examined include coca growers who have organized to protect their livelihood; coca substitution programs that have provided no viable alternative; and the repressive legal and extralegal apparatus which has been mobilized against the growers. Surprising studies show how coca cultivation may be environmentally conservative and how it can underwrite traditional culture. At the same time, both politically and economically, Bolivian society has been transformed by coca and the cocaine trade and efforts to combat them. These efforts, concentrating on supply-side interdiction and coca eradication, have had negative impacts within Bolivia, have damaged the relationship between Bolivia and the United States, and have been ineffective in stemming the flow of cocaine to consuming countries.
DIVArgues for the saliency of the category of the subaltern over that of class./div
Despite recent political movements to establish democratic rule in Latin American countries, much of the region still suffers from pervasive violence. From vigilantism, to human rights violations, to police corruption, violence persists. It is perpetrated by state-sanctioned armies, guerillas, gangs, drug traffickers, and local community groups seeking self-protection. The everyday presence of violence contrasts starkly with governmental efforts to extend civil, political, and legal rights to all citizens, and it is invoked as evidence of the failure of Latin American countries to achieve true democracy. The contributors to this collection take the more nuanced view that violence is not a so...
As economic reform in developing countries has shifted from macroeconomic stabilization to liberalization, opportunities for legislators to influence the process and outcome of reform have increased and their role has become more important. This book focuses attention on differences in institutional structure, in political parties and electoral rules, to show how they create incentives that can explain the varying ways in which legislators respond to policy initiatives from the executive branch. In Argentina and the Philippines, presidents proposed similar fiscal reforms in the 1990s: expanding tax bases, strengthening tax administration, and redesigning tax revenue-sharing with subnational ...