跨国主义视阈下北美一代半华人新移民发展探究

本文从跨国主义的理论框架出发,对北美一代半新移民的特点进行分析,指出其跨国发展中的优势与劣势,认为这一群体是跨国主义的典型践行者,本文提出应密切关注北美一代半新移民在移入国的活动,并为其回归祖国发展提供更加优质的环境。     

Calidad democrática en América Latina: ¿proyecto o utopía?

While recognizing the heuristic limits of the concept “democratic quality” this article argues that measuring democracy over time is the most adequate way to identify, discuss and analyze its presence in every country. “Democratic quality” sheds new light on both concept elaboration and empirical studies because it synthetizes two political processes that have developed in the region in the last twenty five years: democratic transition and democratic consolidation. This category allows us to define the current state of Latin American countries in terms of their institutional and societal development of democratic life. We can thus, at least in theory, observe and propose an integrated improvement of existing political regimes in a context in which modern representative democracies are reorganized in terms of their new attributes and rights. Based on these premises, this article proposes two interrelated paths of analysis: a) considering the model of “democratic quality” to analyze Latin American democracies and characterize their present problems; and b) examining the relevance of this model’s heuristic power. The main thesis holds that not even the most visible long or short-term transformations undergone by our democratic political legal codes, since its inception, are sufficient in and of themselves to bring us closer to the democratic quality model, or in other words, to the basis of a democratic State of law.     

La nueva dinámica política de América Latina: temas para una agenda de investigación

Social transformations in Latin American have generated new phenomena which dominant political discourse, but also some studies of the political dynamics, are unable to express and even seek to conceal. To illustrate these developments the article analyses: 1) the emergence of new veto powers on the democratic system, quite different from the traditional one; 2) the celebration of the rise of “new middle classes”, a statistical conglomerate that refers to important social transformations but does not constitute a social category nor has a clear political expression; 3) the current debate on the regulation of the media, in which we argue that it expresses relevant socio-technological and political changes but is being held in a way that conceals undemocratic interests, both from governments and companies; 4) political parties and their difficulty to represent emerging social groups and generational differences; 5) civil society, which became fragmented and tanned by local political culture and should not be treated as an homogeneous and virtuous universe. We conclude that the consolidation of democracy requires from researchers and political actors to overcome the analytical and ideological paradigms that were, and still are, dominant in the region.     

Can Formal Rules of Order be Used as an Accurate Proxy for Behaviour Internal to a Legislature? Evidence from Costa Rica

Scholars rely heavily on formal rules to classify legislatures, but parchment institutions may only tell part of the story about how the chamber works. Behind-the-scenes behaviour may counter-balance or temper the power distribution created by formal rules. To begin examining if formal rules are an accurate predictor of actual behaviour, we analyse standing committees in Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly. We find that despite the formal institutions that favour a majoritarian bonus, the opposition party is a full participant in the legislative process in committee sessions. Opposition deputies participate equally or more so than majority party deputies, and deputies of all parties work together to investigate bills and kill legislation evaluated to be flawed, which indicates that formal rules are only one component to understanding legislative behaviour.     

Criminal organizations and the policymaking process

ABSTRACT

What role do criminal organisations play in policymaking? Evidence presented in this paper from Latin America and the Caribbean points to the complex ways that various types of criminal groups influence the policy process. Based on the structure of the criminal organisation and the relationship between these groups and state officials this article illustrates the different types of dynamics criminal groups contribute to the policy process. In some cases, these dynamics increase the costs of policies while in others they alter the content of policies and strengthen the position of criminal groups in the neighbourhoods where they operate. The article identifies three dimensions along which criminal groups intervene in the policy process: friction; division; and mediation. The article shows these dynamics by looking at how criminal groups intervene in the policy process in various gang-controlled neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro, Medellín, and Kingston.     

Trust in elections,vote buying,and turnout in Latin America

Although national elections in Latin America are now described as reasonably free and fair by international observations teams, electoral processes are still affected by a series of malpractices (unequal access to the media and public resources, registration problems, vote buying). These irregularities negatively affect citizens' trust in elections. In this paper, we analyze the consequences of low trust in elections and exposure to vote buying practices on electoral participation in Latin America. Using data from the 2010 wave of LAPOP surveys, we find that perceiving that the election is unfair reduces the willingness to participate in national elections, but receiving material incentives during the campaign has the opposite effect of increasing electoral participation. We also show that the effect of trust in elections on turnout is larger in countries where voting is not mandatory.     

The Hi-jacking of Global Society? An Essay

Abstract

Globalization is producing a global society of some sort. Three leading forms are on offer: Global Civil Society, Global Islam and Global America. This essay presents an analysis of globalization as a process, and then a discussion of each of the three possible forms, while recognizing that contingency prevails in history. With this said, the odds are against Global Islam succeeding. Rather, the most likely outcome seems to be the ‘hijacking’ of Global Civil Society by the US. The reasons for this are given, plus a glance at alternative possibilities.     

美国对国际刑事法院的政策转变

美国对国际刑事法院的政策经历了从积极支持到极力反对的大转变。克林顿政府虽然积极参加法院规约的制订,但最终因为在管辖权、检察官独立启动调查起诉程序和侵略罪等问题上存在着重大分歧而投了反对票。布什政府则根据《美国军人保护法》采取了一系列极端敌视国际刑事法院的措施,其中尤以所谓的"第98条协定"为甚。但是,缔约国与美国签订的这种豁免协定实际上违背了规约的宗旨,与罗马规约第98条第2款不相符合,是非法的。     

国家形象与当代中美日在东南亚的竞争

国家形象是国家"软力量"的重要一环,在维护国家权利合法性方面起着其他力量不可替代的作用.中美日在东南亚地区的权利和影响自1997年以来,因其国家形象的变化而此消彼长,正是国家形象在一国对外关系中的政治、经济与安全功能的一个绝好例证.     

美国的介入对格鲁吉亚与俄罗斯关系的影响

冷战结束以来,格鲁吉亚与俄、美保持着紧密而复杂的政治经济关系,俄美也都表现出对格的争夺之意。尤其是"9.11"事件后,美以反恐为名进军中亚,俄罗斯不能置地缘战略安全利益于不顾,奋力与美角逐格鲁吉亚,维护俄南部局势的稳定和传统的势力范围,而美亦不会停止反恐的脚步,与俄争夺格鲁吉亚和中亚国家的控制权。因此,传统的格俄关系发展方向存在极大的不确定性和不稳定性,除去两国自身因素,美国是对二者关系产生影响的重要因素之一。