Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:17:02.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Political Institutions, Policymaking, and Policy Stability in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Carlos Pereira ,
Shane P. Singh  and
Bernardo Mueller
Carlos Pereira
Affiliation:
School of Public Administration at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. [email protected]
Shane P. Singh
Affiliation:
The Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. [email protected]
Bernardo Mueller
Affiliation:
The Center for the Study of Regulation of Markets (CERME), University of Brasília. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In some Latin American nations, policy change occurs frequently, while in others it is stable, less prone to shifts with the prevailing political climate or shocks. The conditions under which institutional rules and the powers of key actors influence the capacity for governance vary, and this variation is seldom addressed in the literature. This project examines the effects of the interactions between key policymakers (the executive and the legislature) in Latin America on policy stability across different institutional frameworks. Countries with simultaneously strong executives and weak legislatures are shown to have unstable policy environments, as are countries with a history of unified government and, to a lesser extent, candidate-centered electoral systems.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , Spring 2011 , pp. 59 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alesina, Alberto, Özler, Sule, Roubini, Nouriel, and Swagel, Phillip. 1996. Political Instability and Economic Growth. Journal of Economic Growth 1, 2: 189–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alston, Lee, and Mueller, Bernardo. 2006. Pork for Policy: Executive and Legislative Exchange in Brazil. Journal of Law Economics and Organization 22, 1: 87–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ames, Barry. 2001. The Deadlock of Democracy in Brazil. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amorim Neto, Octavio, and Borsani, Hugo. 2004. Presidents and Cabinets: the Political Determinants of Fiscal Behavior in Latin America. Studies in Comparative International Development 39, 1: 3–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arvate, Paulo. 2006. Instituições e resultados fiscais do governo federal brasileiro. In Economia do setor público, ed. Biderman, Ciro and Arvate, Paulo. São Paulo : Campos Press. 136–52.Google Scholar
Barro, Robert J. 1991. Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries. Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 2: 407–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Thorsten, Clarke, George, Groff, Alberto, Keefer, Philip, and Walsh, Patrick. 2001. New Tools in Comparative Political Economy: the Database of Political Institutions. World Bank Economic Review 15, 1: 165–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brambor, Thomas, Roberts Clark, William, and Golder, Matt. 2006. Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses. Political Analysis 14, 1: 63–82. For additional information, see authors' website: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mrg217/interaction.html.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braumoeller, Bear F. 2004. Hypothesis Testing and Multiplicative Interaction Terms. International Organization 58, 4: 807–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, John M., and Shugart, Matthew S.. 1995. Incentives to Cultivate a Personal Vote: a Rank Ordering of Electoral Formulas. Electoral Studies 14, 4: 417–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 2001. The Institutional Determinants of Economic Policy Outcomes. In Presidents, Parliaments and Policy, ed. Haggard, Stephan and McCubbins, . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 21–63.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and Morgenstern, Scott. 2002. Epilogue: Latin America's Reactive Assemblies and Proactive Presidents. In Morgenstern and Nacif 2002. 446–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, Brian F. 1998. Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela. In Executive Decree Authority, ed. Carey, John M. and Shugart, Matthew S. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 142–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, David E. 2006. Veto Players and Civil War Duration. American Journal of Political Science 59, 4: 875–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutler, Lloyd. 1988. Some Reflections about Divided Government. Presidential Studies Quarterly 18, 3: 485–92.Google Scholar
Epstein, David, and O'Halloran, Sharyn. 1999. Delegating Powers: A Transaction Cost Politics Approach to Policy Making Under Separate Powers. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorina, Morris P. 1996. Divided Government. 2nd ed. Boston : Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Foweraker, Joe. 1998. Review Article: Institutional Design, Party Systems and Governability: Differentiating the Presidential Regimes of Latin America. British Journal of Political Science 28, 4: 651–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haggard, Stephen, and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 2001. Political Institutions and the Determinants of Public Policy. In Presidents, Parliaments and Policy, ed. Haggard and McCubbins. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 1–20.Google Scholar
Hallerberg, Mark, and Marier, Patrick. 2004. Executive Authority, the Personal Vote, and Budget Discipline in Latin American and Caribbean Countries. American Journal of Political Science 48, 3: 571–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallerberg, Mark, and Basinger, Scott. 1998. Internationalization and Changes in Tax Policy in Oecd Countries: the Importance of Domestic Veto Players. Comparative Political Studies 31, 3: 321–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Research Department. 2006. The Politics of Policies: Economic and Social Progress in Latin America and the Caribbean, IPES 2006 Report. Washington , DC : IADB. http://www.iadb.org/res/ipes/2006.Google Scholar
Johnson, Joel W., and Wallack, Jessica S.. 2007. Electoral Systems and the Personal Vote. http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/jwjohnson/espv.htm.Google Scholar
Jones, Mark P., Saiegh, Sebastian, Spiller, Pablo T., and Tommasi, Mariano. 2002. Amateur Legislators, Professional Politicians: the Consequences of Party-Centered Electoral Rules in a Federal System. American Journal of Political Science 46, 3: 656–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kornblith, Miriam, and Levine, Daniel H.. 1995. Venezuela: The Life and Times of the Party System. In Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America, ed. Mainwaring, Scott and Scully, Timothy R. Stanford : Stanford University Press. 37–71.Google Scholar
Laakso, Markuu, and Taagepera, Rein. 1979. Effective Number of Parties: a Measure with Application to Western Europe. Comparative Political Studies 12, 1: 3–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leoni, Eduardo. 2002. Ideologia, democracia e comportamento parlamentar: a câmara dos deputados (1991–1998). Dados 45, 3: 361–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. 1994. Electoral Systems and Party Systems. Oxford : Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacRae, Duncan 1968. Parliament, Parties, and Society in France, 1946–1958. New York : St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, Scott. 1993. Presidentialism, Multipartism, and Democracy: the Difficult Combination. Comparative Political Studies 26, 2: 198–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mainwaring, Scott, and Shugart, Matthew S.. 1997. Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mainwaring, Scott, and Scully, Timothy R.. 1995. Introduction: Party Systems in Latin America. In Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America, ed. Mainwaring and Scully. Stanford : Stanford University Press. 1–36.Google Scholar
Mejía-Acosta, Andrés, and Coppedge, Michael. 2001. Political Determinants of Fiscal Discipline in America, 1979–1998. Paper presented at the 23rd Inernational Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC, September 6–8.Google Scholar
Monaldi, Francisco, Amelia González, Rosa, Obuchi, Richard, and Penfold, Michael. 2006. Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes, and Policy Outcomes in Venezuela. Washington , DC : Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenstern, Scott. 2002. Explaining Legislative Politics in Latin America. In Morgenstern and Nacif 2002. 413–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenstern, Scott, and Nacif, Benito. 2002. Legislative Politics in Latin America. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pereira, Carlos, and Mueller, Bernardo. 2004. The Cost of Governing: Strategic Behavior of the President and Legislators in Brazil's Budgetary Process. Comparative Political Studies 37, 7: 781–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, Torsten, and Tabellini, Guido Enrico. 2003. The Economic Effects of Constitutions. Cambridge : MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poole, Keith T. 2005. Spatial Models of Parliamentary Voting: Analytical Methods for Social Research. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 1991. Policy Uncertainty and Private Investment in Developing Countries. Journal of Development Economics 36, 2: 229–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saiegh, Sebastian M. 2005. The Role of Legislatures in the Policymaking Process. Paper presented at the workshop “State Reform, Public Policies, and Policymaking Processes,” Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC, February 21.Google Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems. New York : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1994. Comparative Constitutional Engineering: An Inquiry into Structures, Incentives, and Outcomes. New York : New York University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Ernesto, and Tommasi, Mariano. 2006. The Institutional Determinants of State Capabilities in Latin America. Paper presented at the World Bank Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), St. Petersburg, Russia, January 18–19.Google Scholar
Sundquist, James L. 1988. Needed: a Political Theory for the New Era of Coalition Government in the United States. Political Science Quarterly 103, 4: 613–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taagepera, Rein, and Shugart, Matthew. 1989. Seats and Votes. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tsebelis, George. 2002. Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work. Princeton : Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsebelis, George, and Chang, Eric C. C.. 2004. Veto Players and the Structure of Budgets in Advanced Industrialized Countries. European Journal of Political Research 43, 3: 449–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations. 2010. U.N. Human Development Report. New York : UNDP Press. http://hdr.undp.org/en/.Google Scholar