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Why Do New Democracies Not Choose First Past the Post?
New democracies can achieve their primary objectives of inclusiveness and compromise much more effectively with proportional representation or mixed systems.
The Role of the Economic Elite in Mexico’s Democratic Development
A widely held middle class critique of Mexico’s governing institutions is that politicians are accountable only to the private elites and do not respond to middle and lower class needs. Indeed, with a history of oligarchic-type rule and pervasive government corruption, private sector elites have consistently been major players in Mexican politics.
The Rise of the La Familia Michoacana
On May 30th, 2010, former Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Mora Medina declared the drug cartel La Familia Michoacana, known simply as “La Familia,” to be the most dangerous in all of Mexico. The rise of La Familia, its bizarre ideology and indoctrination of members, and the lower-class following it has received have separated it from other DTOs in Mexico.
Is the US winning the ‘War on Drugs’ in Latin America?
The general consensus in the literature and the media is that the US is losing the ‘war on drugs’. Rates of consumption in the US have remained roughly the same over the last ten years and the drug trade remains a multi-billion dollar industry run by a complex international network.
The Dreamboat That Ran Aground: U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela 1955-1960
The US experience in Venezuela helped nuance its wider policy towards Latin America by challenging the reliance on free market economics. While the Eisenhower administration chose to re-emphasise democratic values in order to combat rising Communist radicalism, practical support for democracy proved to be limited.
Is the Cuban problem fading away with the ageing Castro regime?
US attempts at regime change in Cuba have inadvertently created a martyr for anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements. Fidel Castro shall continue to play an important role in US-Latin American relations long after his death, with the regime standing as a focal anti-US hub in Latin America.
Who in Latin America benefits and loses from the rise of China?
The People’s Republic of China has emerged as an important global actor in the twenty-first century but who has benefitted, politically and economically, from Beijing’s growing presence in Latin America and how have Sino-Latin American relations developed since Chinese President Hu Jintao’s first diplomatic visit to the region in 2004?
Why has the demobilisation of combatants proved so difficult? The Colombian paramilitary experience
The demobilisation of combatants during or after conflict is a crucial step towards achieving sustainable peace. This essay draws on the case of Colombia to illustrate the difficulties that this task poses.
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