J'écrirai à la Junte du Monde, surtout si le temps se faisait plus perméable à la transmission des expériences, des doutes, des grosses certitudes. Je dirai : oui, j'étais à la fenêtre, j'attendais de voir. Je voyais le fils ramasser les médicaments pour sa mère, les sachets pharmaceutiques dans sa main. En passant le fils était vu par sa mère, voyant le petit R. qui se faisait attaquer par les forces de l'ordre.
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the setting of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup employing a geopolitical approach. To identify in which way these international sports events are geopolitical instruments of the International System, I present a revision of different elements involved in the selection of China and South Africa as respective hosts of the Olympic Games of 2008 and the World Cup of 2010, such as the motives, goals and possible benefits of these two countries. In this way, I sustain the thesis that the Olympic Games and the World Cup are political instruments used by the States to pursue their geopolitical interests.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Politics
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
This article analyses the first regionalism in Latin America, understood as the first regional economic integration agreements which appeared in the sixties, particularly the mechanisms of integration ALALC-ALADI, MCCA and PA. For such purpose, firstly the author presents a theoretical reflection about the regionalization and its political projects, in other words, the regionalism. Then, the international circumstances and the economic policies that served for developing these mechanisms of regional integration in Latin America are depicted.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
This article discusses the project of Telesur in the context of regional integration in Latin America and geopolitical confrontation with the US. The article considers the way in which confrontation between President Hugo Chávez's administration and the United States has made geopolitics a fundamental part of this telecommunications project. It discusses the validity of comparing Telesur to other broadcasters such as Al-Jazeera and EuroNews. Although is still too soon to provide an assessment of the viability of the channel, it is already possible to foresee that it will face in the near future a series of challenges that will reshape its nature and that of its audiences.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
The present article analyzes the electoral campaigns in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, as a way to establish if these campaigns, as a fundamental part of the electoral and political processes, contribute to achieve a quality democracy. Based on the definition of a good quality democracy, we analyze the electoral campaigns and their institutional design: length, financing, political parties, access to the media, negative campaigns, political debates, government advertising during the campaigns, political parties fiscal accountability and their overall impact in the public participation. Finally, this paper outlines some proposals of improvement for the design of the electoral campaigns in Nuevo León.
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
The process of democratic consolidation in Latin America may seem to be dominated by an utilitarian search of better governments and not by a real commitment to adopt democratic principles and values. This essay analyzes data from Latinobarometer for the last decade and finds evidence of a support for democracy that is associated with low inflation and strong GNP growth. Democracy is far from being the 'only game in town' and is under pressure to obtain specific policy outcomes. Partial evidence suggests that citizens tend to support regimes from the left when they realize that democracy is more a procedural system rather than a regime of effective redistribution of wealth and income.
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
There has been a process of change in the notion of constitutionalism since the middle of the 20th century, setting itself apart from its previous conceptualization which was distinguished by its stiffness and the existence of an organ responsible of surveilling the supremacy of the Constitution above the law. Using this affirmation as a starting point, the author examines the ways in which the neo-constitutionalism and the 19th-century constitutionalism theorized the concepts of constitution and democracy. The aim of this analysis is to demonstrate that the concept of formal democracy -as a method to take public decisions on the basis of the majority principle- has exhausted its heuristic capacity in neo-constitutionalism. According to the author, the use of such concept generates an indissoluble tension between constitution and democracy. Thus, based on the work of Luigi Ferrajoli, the author proposes a radical review of the concept of democracy that incorporates substantial aspects and takes into account the reality of the current normative systems.
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Call centers emerging industry is a dynamic sector in global economy and accounts worldwide jobs in millions. This article shows the tayloristic characteristics of labor process, geographical expansion trends of telemarket firms and concentration job in young people as well as the weakness of the labor relations in the industry. The conclusion is that structure of contemporary postindustrial capitalism constitutes a framework for call centers industry growth. That structure is characterized by: a need for managing the information and communication flows in a competitive way within several firms and organizations; the remarkable innovation wave in digital technology sectors and structural unemployment among young people, bachelors or graduates. In the context of an expanding tertiary economy, call centers become a pattern for managing work and creating jobs in 21st Century.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Globalization, and Science and Technology