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19542. The Politics of Free Trade in the Western Hemisphere
- Author:
- Manuel Pastor and Carol Wise
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Just as the 1980s now stand out as the decade of the debt crisis in Latin America, the 1990s have become the free trade decade. After a number of failed attempts at trade liberalization during the 1970s, many states in the region now have made dramatic progress in their efforts to reduce tariffs and eliminate quantitative restrictions (QRs) (see Table 1). The strongest evidence of this new openness is reflected in Mexico's 1994 entry into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada, the stated intention at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami to develop a plan for the full expansion of hemispheric free trade, and the ongoing consolidation of such subregional trade pacts as South America's Southern Cone Common Market (MER - COSUR), including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, Brazil, South America, Uruguay, Caribbean, North America, and Paraguay
19543. The Binational Center and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Louis P. Falino
- Publication Date:
- 06-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- The binational center (BNC) has been one of the most successful elements in U.S. cultural programs overseas and, as such, has made important contributions to U.S. foreign policy. Through the historical study of binational centers, one sees that contemporary issues in cultural relations and public diplomacy have been dealt with on many occasions in the past, and they resurface according to the demands of the moment. This historical study of BNCs thus provides a way of reflecting upon and reconsidering perennial issues involving cultural programs and the effective conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States
19544. Strategic Global Repositioning and Future Economic Development in Jamaica
- Author:
- Richard L. Bernal
- Publication Date:
- 04-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Strategic global repositioning is a process of r epositioning a country in the global economy by implementing a strategic plan. Such plans are designed to consolidate and improve existing production lines while reorienting the economy toward new types of economic activities. In most developing countries, this involves structural transformation (not adjustment) to achieve economic diversification, including export diversification. The need for strategic global repositioning derives from trends in the global economy that portend limited opportunities for industrialization in developing countries.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
19545. The Development of America’s post-Cold War Military Posture: A Critical Appraisal
- Author:
- Carl Conetta
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Project on Defense Alternatives
- Abstract:
- This article outlines the factors influencing and distorting military planning (with special attention to the 1992-1996 period.) In the early years of the post-Cold War era, the US defense establishment set out to formulate a new military posture. This was supposed to reflect the new strategic environment and pursue the opportunities afforded by advances in information technology. The result, however, was a “new” posture closely resembling the old, writ somewhat smaller. It was to be progressively bolstered by cutting-edge technology inputs. However, while remarkably expensive, these inputs would only partially fulfill their promise, while exhibiting varying degrees of reliability and sustainability. Soon the USA would be spending as much and more inflation-adjusted dollars on its armed forces as during the Cold War. Also driving requirements and budgets upward would be the adoption of new strategic goals, roles, and missions exceeding those of the Cold War period. Over subsequent decades, the tension between purported military requirements and resources constraints would grow acute, while the armed forces found themselves over-extended worldwide and mired in seemingly endless wars, despite their presumed (and costly) advantages. How did US defense policy come to this point? The Development of America’s post-Cold War Military Posture shows how dysfunctional planning assumptions and processes can easily lead to dysfunctional policy.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Cold War, Science and Technology, and Military Affairs
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
19546. Network Capital in Capitalist, Communist, and Post-Communist Societies
- Author:
- Endre Sik
- Publication Date:
- 02-1995
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The term 'network capital' comprises the use of a wide variety of personal networks: for example, altruistic, long-lasting, multipurpose relations; balanced, short-term patron-client relations; instrumental barter; and exploitative unequal exchanges such as bribery and corruption. Every society can be characterized by a particular level and form of network capital, based on its culture and on its historically and structurally determined organizational framework. The scope and role of network capital is a simultaneous function of already existing network capital and the changing economic situation. This paper's first hypothesis is that the size of network capital is greater under communism than capitalism because of the differences in cultural, historical developments and because there are greater socioeconomic pressures in communist societies that give network capital more opportunities to operate. The second contention is that in the course of transition from communism to capitalism-i.e., in the postcommunist period-networking actually becomes more widespread, although the previous hypothesis might seem to suggest that it would diminish.
- Topic:
- Communism, Development, Governance, Capitalism, Networks, and Post-Communism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
19547. Under- and Overinstitutionalization: Some Ideal Typical Propositions Concerning New and Old Party Systems
- Author:
- Andreas Schedler
- Publication Date:
- 03-1995
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The weakness of democratic institutions represents the core problem faced by processes of democratic consolidation. The present paper, which confines its attention exclusively to party systems, starts by diagnosing a double deficit. First, the concept of institutional 'under-development' appears to be somewhat underdeveloped itself. It requires further clarification and elaboration. Second, the debate on democratic consolidation takes the 'old' consolidated democracies as its normative model and assumes that the strength of institutions and the quality of democracy are positively related. This normative horizon might be distorted. We argue instead that institutions may be too weak-but also too strong (section 1). The paper therefore contrasts two ideal types of party systems: 'underinstitutionalized' versus 'overinstitutionalized'. After sketching some defining elements of institutions (section 2), the essay portrays differences and commonalties between these two party system extremes. It discusses the following dimensions: aggregate electoral volatility (section 3), the translation of electoral uncertainty into policy styles and popular expectations (section 4), the barriers of access to the political market (section 5), degrees of interparty competition (section 6), horizontal accountability (section 7), the scope of horizontal linkages (section 8), and the credibility of party politicians (section 9). We conclude with some hints at the dynamics of change within both systems (section 10).
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Institutions
- Political Geography:
- Europe and South America
19548. Catholicism, Anticlericalism, and the Quest for Women's Suffrage in Chile
- Author:
- Erika Maza Valenzuela
- Publication Date:
- 12-1995
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Catholic countries typically enfranchised women later than Protestant ones, and analysts have long argued that this delay was due to the influence of Catholic political and Church leaders as well as to the effects of a Catholic culture. By examining the history of the extension of suffrage to women and women's political participation in Chile since the mid-nineteenth century, this paper challenges that widely held notion. It shows that Catholic and Conservative leaders were the earliest voices in favor of extending suffrage to women. It also shows that Catholic women were involved in political and social affairs from an early date in the country's history as an independent nation, and that they developed feminist views. The paper concludes that the delay in enacting a women's suffrage bill for national elections in Chile (1949) was caused by the wariness of the anticlerical parties regarding the effects of such a measure on the balance of electoral forces, especially since the elections were very competitive and the electorate was small. Given the long-standing and visible association of socially prominent and politically influential women with the Catholic Church and Catholic beneficence institutions, there was a widespread expectation-which proved to be correct as seen in the municipal elections in which women first voted beginning in 1935-that women voters would tend to favor the Conservative Party.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Religion, Women, History, Catholic Church, Suffrage, and Gender
- Political Geography:
- South America and Chile
19549. The Origins and Transformations of the Chilean Party System
- Author:
- J. Samuel Valenzuela
- Publication Date:
- 12-1995
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper analyzes the Chilean party system from its inception to the present. It presents three polarities as basic to the constitution of the Chilean parties: in addition to the state/church conflicts and the divisions over socioeconomic programs, it shows that for long periods of its history the party system contained parties devoted to supporting specific political leaders or their legacies. The coalitional behavior of the Chilean parties during many decades cannot be explained without taking this polarizing (or unifying) factor into account. It was in evidence between 1856 and 1874 given the impact of the montt-varistas, between 1894 and 1925 due to the balmacedistas, between 1936 and the mid-1950s given ibañismo, and since 1985 as a result of the military government and its effects on the formation of a new party of the Right. The argument also reveals the extent to which the Chilean party system has nineteenth-century origins and emphasizes the importance of electoral rules in molding its transformations. The paper concludes by pointing to the fact that the Chilean electorate has considerable loyalty to party tendencies but less loyalty to specific party labels.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, History, Authoritarianism, Political Parties, and Political Behavior
- Political Geography:
- South America and Chile
19550. Social Rights Under State Socialism? Pensions & Housing in Hungarian Welfare State Development
- Author:
- Phineas Baxandall
- Publication Date:
- 01-1995
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Social rights are different in Eastern Europe than in the West. Their legacy reflects the very different relationship between state and citizen, and the more instrumental use of law under state socialism. This paper develops a model for distinguishing between different forms of social rights, not only in the West, but also as the concept might be applied to different periods of state socialism. A typology of different social rights is offered, and the lasting legacies of such rights are examined in Hungarian pension and housing policy since 1949. The paper is organized in four parts: 1) There is discussion of previous approaches to interpreting social rights in Eastern Europe. 2) A rough model is suggested to distinguish between varying conceptions of social rights along two dimensions: their relative emphasis on substantive or procedural justice, and on the negative or positive definition of the state's obligation to fulfill these rights. The result is four classifications of rights. The reigning Anglo-Saxon conception of social rights is thereby distinguished not only from the view employed by western welfare state advocates, but also from the Classical Communist logic and a Late Socialist form that is most relevant to contemporary Hungary. 3) It is argued that the informality of rights that was so central to the Late Socialist welfare state has in many ways been reinforced by the process of transformation from state socialism. 4) Housing and pension policy are used to illustrate the Hungarian rights legacy and how it continues to influence social policy.
- Topic:
- Welfare, Housing, Pension, Social Rights, and State Socialism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Hungary