Political Science

National Legislatures, Democracy and Foreign Policy: a comparative study of Brazil, Chile and Mexico

At the end of each electoral cycle it becomes clear that foreign policy has become one of the key dimensions connecting democracy and development in Latin America. Regional integration, international security, international trade agreements, legislation on international migration, energy and regulation are some among many international issues that have become frequent, and sometimes polarized, in national electoral debates. Contrary to the predictions that Latin-American countries would inevitably, from the 1990s, move towards a convergent model of development dictated by the competitive integration into the world economy, what was seen in the countries of the region was the emergency of hard-fought disputes concerning the concepts of development and the confrontation of ideas from political coalitions, political parties and national elites. The degree of polarization in these political disputes or otherwise the level of ideological convergence varies from country to country. For instance, political disputes tend to be more polarized in Argentina and Mexico than Brazil and Chile. Similarly, institutional structures are quite distinct, especially regarding legislative-executive relations at the national level, institutions responsible for bridging the gap between Society and Governments on foreign policy. The fundamental objective of this project is to analyze the evolution of both the institutional role and the performance of national legislatures on foreign policy in four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Besides updating the analysis on the connections among Society, Legislatures and Foreign Policy, the original contribution of this research refers to the systematic way in which the comparison of the political-institutional dimension is dealt with in the field of Latin American foreign policy, an aspect that has traditionally received little attention by the international literature.

 

Researchers involved

 

Social Network and Public Policy

New studies adopting social network analysis have been improving the understanding of processes within the State, shedding light on the relationship between the State and its immediate political surroundings, especially politicians and private companies. This set of studies showed the importance of networks in the operation of public policies. However, given the specificities of the policies studied, these investigations did not provide a significant contribution to the connections of networks within the State, their associative web and the users of the policies. On the other hand, studies on social inequalities faced by cities give special attention to the so-called street-level bureaucracy along with popular organizations. This research aims to fulfill this gap by analyzing the case of the last five governments of the city of São Paulo in a particularly relevant policy to urban inequalities – housing policies. This policy counts on organized social movements, and also on a state bureaucracy traditionally connected to them, therefore helping us to understand more about the State and its role on the reproduction of social inequalities in the city.

 

Researchers involved

 

Brazil, the Americas and the World: public opinion and foreign policy 2010

The main goal of this research project is to describe and analyze the perception that the Brazilian population has on our foreign policy and international policy. It is part of an international academic endeavor that includes research teams from many Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. The general coordination is entrusted to the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico. This international project aims to comprehend the perceptions and attitudes that the public has on international issues that have gained more importance over the last century and to capture the reactions of society towards international changes and the domestic impacts. The study covers a broad range of themes (cultural, economic, social, political, security) and levels (bilateral, regional and global) relating to international relations and foreign policy. A survey using a probabilistic sampling of 2,400 cases and stratified nationally will be carried out. Results will be presented in two forms:

  1. an analysis of the attitudes and perceptions that Brazilians have concerning the set of themes included in the questionnaires;
  2. a comparative analysis of the perceptions the public has about the position of the country within the international scenario and the foreign policy agenda in the seven countries investigated.

 

Researchers involved

 

Housing and precarious housing conditions in contemporary Brazil

This research investigates recently adopted housing policies within the Brazilian metropolitan context. It also analyzes the main features of popular housing alternatives in the metropolises. The study counts on primary data collected from municipal public agencies and relating to housing policies and other housing alternatives, and geocoded demographic information that can be overlaid with census data. By the use of Geographical Information Systems, the research can produce a profile of the population living in each of the alternatives – shanty towns (favelas) and public housing projects – and problematize the literature on urban studies and urban sociology.

 

Researchers involved

 

Social Network, segregation and poverty

New studies adopting social network analysis have been improving the understanding of processes within the State, shedding light on the relationship between the State and its immediate political surroundings, especially politicians and private companies. This set of studies showed the importance of networks in the operation of public policies. However, given the specificities of the policies studied, these investigations did not provide a significant contribution to the connections of networks within the State, their associative web and the users of the policies. On the other hand, studies on social inequalities faced by cities give special attention to the so-called street-level bureaucracy along with popular organizations. This research aims to fulfill this gap by analyzing the case of the last five governments of the city of São Paulo in a particularly relevant policy to urban inequalities – housing policies. This policy counts on organized social movements, and also on a state bureaucracy traditionally connected to them, therefore helping us to understand more about the State and its role on the reproduction of social inequalities in the city.

 

Researchers involved

 

Government and Governance in large cities: Paris, London, Mexico City and São Paulo

The objective of this investigation is to compare patterns of governance in large cities by focusing on São Paulo, Paris, London and Mexico City in cooperation with research teams from Science Po, Paris, Bartlet School in London and Cide in Mexico. We do not expect to find single or coherent patterns of government and governance in each city (or even among them) but rather different patterns depending on the way a specific policy area combines the interactions of state agents from various levels of authority with the private initiative and groups (legal and illegal) from the civil society, acting within diverse relational and institutional environments. In theoretical terms it means to overcome the classical issue of Who governs? by asking Who governs What? and also Who governs When the State does not? The comparison follows a case study logic investigating the existence of processes and their combination order so as to specify under what conditions the various patterns of governance found are formed and operate.

 

Researchers involved

 

Country adherence to the regime of International Intellectual Property (1883-2007)

This research aims to study the incentives countries have to adhere to regimes of international intellectual property and to change their domestic legislation. In order to do so, we use a quantitative methodology and build a database of 190 countries. The database lists the year that each country adhered to a variety of international intellectual property regimes and also contains variables with country characteristics such as GDP, share of industry on GDP etc. Thus, we will be able to test hypotheses based on the literature on the determinants of country adhesion to multilateral international agreements and/or treaties of intellectual property.

 

Researchers involved

 

The federative face of trade policy: a comparative study between São Paulo and Maharashtra

The objective of this project is to produce a comparative analysis between the State of São Paulo and Maharashtra concerning the formulation and conduction of national trade policy in Brazil and India, respectively. This case study can contribute to the analysis of the relationship between federalism and trade policy, a consolidated field of study in other countries but underdeveloped in this country.

 

Researchers involved

 

The State of São Paulo, international negotiations and instruments of trade policy: risks and opportunities

The general objective of this project is to produce a series of studies and instruments of analysis that could directly or indirectly support the Government of the State of São Paulo to formulate strategies of international trade. In many countries, such as the EUA, Canada, Mexico, India among others, subnational units, especially those detaining larger and significant economic weight within the federation, are endowed with strategic trade policies to minimize risks and enlarge opportunities in a context of growing economic internationalization. Despite the existing constraints put in place by the Brazilian federation model, which imposes restrictions on/to the organization of a genuinely sub-federal trade policy, the state of São Paulo cannot abdicate from a strategic planning of an international trade policy compatible with its weight. Contributing so the state of São Paulo, together with its Secretary for Development, enhances existing tools and creates new mechanisms of subnational trade policy is the main goal of this project.

 

Researchers involved

 

Coalitions and multilaterism: the Brazilian foreign policy and IBSA and G-20 coalitions

This research aims to broaden the understanding of South-South coalition or alliance formation within the new multilateral agenda context. The analysis will focus on two South-South coalitions, the G-3 (also known as IBSA) and the G-20 given their importance in terms of trade multilateralism. Through the use of spatial models and based on G-3 and G-20 coalitions, this project tries to understand the bases of south-south alliance formation understood as multilateral games. Based on preference assessment (ideal points of countries, the unit of analysis in this case), the situation of regimes (the status quo) and the indifference curve for countries, spatial models are used to analyze the prospects of international coalition formation.

 

From Janina Onuki e Amâncio Jorge de Oliveira.