The specific contribution of this study is to explore how a communitarian lifeworld. prepares the ground for practices of political clientelism without requiring the foundational favor“ noted in other contexts. Based on the encounter between ethnographies from two different communities of the Mesoamerican tradition in Mexico, the article argues that this lifeworld is forged by the habitual ways in which most collective tasks are carried out, that is, by forming and participating in networks. First, we offer a concrete description of the operation of two problem-solving networks of political clientelism in these communities. These networks are considered legitimate since they appear to be part of the communitarian practices. Second, we observe that the state often fails to reach out to the citizens with many social benefits, and we maintain that the problem-solving networks bridge the gap between the citizens and the state. Third, we argue that the ethnographic approach has been of paramount importance in reaching these findings, which are hardly attainable without this method. We consider that the workings of the clientelist networks represent a deep expression of people's communitarian lifeworlds.

Abordamos aquí los discursos y prácticas de hombres, mujeres e instituciones respecto a las mujeres afrocolombianas, que conforman un fenómeno migratorio reciente en el mercado del sexo de las ciudades mineras del norte de Chile. Veremos cómo la irrupción e instalación de estas mujeres generan tensiones no resueltas en la configuración de las relaciones de género en los enclaves productivos, al ser percibidas contradictoriamente como amenaza y como oportunidad en relación a los acomodos tradicionales de las relaciones de género en la región, en sus dimensiones económicas, laborales, matrimoniales y familiares. Planteamos que la estigmatización y la discriminación de la condición racial, nacional, sexual y laboral de estas mujeres se articula y contradice con experiencias heterogéneas del deseo afectivo y sexual que afecta intensamente la conformación y reproducción de las masculinidades mineras y sus contratos socio-sexuales.

The transformation of Latin American societies from the 1970s onward and the recent sociopolitical and economic changes at a global scale call for reconsiderations of the relation between art and power and its role in processes of democratization. This article examines art's social function and its understanding as transformative social praxis—an activity that reflects upon the world and seeks to change it, and that at the same time critically reflects upon its own condition and relation to that world. It specifically suggests the idea of art's rhetoric in order to conceptualize art's critical potential and identify processes that generate and displace meaning across artistic, sociopolitical, and discursive contexts. Tucumán Arde (1968) in Argentina, Colectivo Actiones de Artes Para no morir de hambre en el arte (1979) in Chile, and Proyecto Venus (2000-2006), based in Buenos Aires, use interdisciplinary methodologies to critically intersect the public sphere. They scrutinize art's position in society, seek to raise awareness, and act as alternative networks of information and socialization.

This essay examines the influence that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru (TRC, 2001-2003) had in the recent novels Abril rojo (2006) by Santiago Roncagliolo, La hora azul (2005) by Alonso Cueto, and El camino de regreso (2007) by José de Piérola. In particular, I focus on how the TRC's treatment of mental health issues have provided these writers with new ways to approach violence and social justice after the twenty years of terrorist and state violence (1980-2000) that cloud Peruvian history. As part of its investigations, the TRC paid close attention to the mental health of the victims and the psychosocial effects of violence. Its investigation influenced the writers I study, who use representations of mental illnesses to allegorize the country's situation after the years of violence and to imagine processes of justice and reconciliation that will reestablish a healthy national community.

Until recently, the Peruvian government to a great extent has given corporations the responsibility for resolving the increasing number of conflicts with local communities in mining localities. In the literature on political and economic reforms, mobilization, and democratic influence, few studies have addressed the role of corporations in relation to those processes. This study contributes an analysis of how corporate-community relations affect communities' ability to mobilize and influence mining projects. The article is based on two case studies in which local communities pursued different demands and analyzes how corporations used various strategies to deal with demands and protests. The empirical analysis demonstrates that local communities can achieve influence by opposing projects as well as by collaborating with corporations. However, these forms of mobilization have different impacts on the collective identities and organizational structures that are essential to the scope of democratic influence for those groups.

A partir de los modelos de corrientes múltiples (Kingdon 1995) y de diseño político y construcción social (Schneider y Ingram 1997), este artículo propone un modelo analítico que permite analizar el proceso de formulación de la política pública indígena en Chile en el gobierno de Patricio Aylwin Azócar (1990-1994) a través de sus coyunturas, actores, valores e intereses en juego. La evidencia muestra que existen elementos particulares del proceso cuando se trata de pueblos culturalmente diferenciados. Esta información se recoge a partir de la aplicación y análisis de entrevistas a veintidós actores claves del proceso junto con revisión y análisis de prensa y documentos oficiales. El artículo identifica, describe y explica las características que definen la política indígena para el caso chileno.

Sin olvidar la importancia que el factor económico juega en el fenómeno migratorio, y sin caer en el riesgo de proyectar una visión romántica del mismo, este trabajo pretende profundizar en aquellas migraciones que se inician siguiendo determinadas “motivaciones extraeconómicas”. De ahí que, desde el intento de contribuir a visibilizar la heterogeneidad de situaciones personales que conforman las migraciones internacionales, este artículo se centra en otro tipo de factores que incitan a migrar: razones profesionales, políticas, de orientación sexual o de ampliación de horizontes vitales. Para ello se parte de diferentes relatos de mujeres migrantes cubanas y ecuatorianas en España.

This article contributes to a growing literature on the ways in which migrants are shaping democracy back home. Its empirical lens is Mexico's “Three-for-One” (3×1) Program, in which each level of the Mexican government provides matching grants for community projects solicited and financed by migrant hometown associations (HTAs), primarily in the United States. Based on an original data set constructed from key informant interviews and household surveys in sixty Mexican communities, it uses descriptive statistics, multivariate regressions, and qualitative case narratives to explore the relationship between migrant involvement in the 3×1 Program and accountable governance at the local level. Its central finding is that migrants are most likely to act as effective agents of accountability when they are embedded in translocal networks with local residents.

While political polarization may lead to gridlock and other negative policy outcomes, representation is likely to be enhanced when parties differentiate themselves from each other and make it easier for voters to see the connection between their personal ideologies and the electoral offerings. These differences between parties may be especially important in developing democracies, where voters are still learning parties' priorities and where parties do not always emphasize issues when campaigning. To test this proposition, I develop a measure of elite polarization in Latin America since the early 1990s based on legislative surveys. Individual-level voting patterns from mass survey data confirm that the connection between voters' self-placement on the left-right scale and their electoral choice is stronger in polarized party systems, even when controlling for other party system factors like the age of the party system or electoral fragmentation. This effect on voting behavior is not immediate, however, as voters take time to recognize the new cues being provided by the changing party system.

Research surrounding political institutions and credible commitment to the rule of law is integral to recent efforts to tie democracy to economic development. I identify the determinants of rule-of-law perceptions in Latin America and argue that constraining elected officials facilitates a commitment to democracy that makes government policies credible. I also argue that aspects of politics leading to deadlock might have a hidden upside in generating policy credibility. I test my arguments against pooled cross-sectional time series data for twenty Latin American countries between 1996 and 2012. Ultimately, my research demonstrates the benefits of functioning checks and balances among elected officials for the rule of law and provides a uniform framework linking democratic inputs to legal and economic outcomes.

O presente artigo busca responder a seguinte questão: quando confiar é bom? Diversas pesquisas têm se debruçado sobre o fenómeno da desconfiança, estudando suas causas e efeitos para o regime democrático. Porém, pouca coisa foi explorada em relação ao fenómeno contrário, o da confiança. Nosso argumento é que confiar é bom quando duas condições são satisfeitas: a existência de um contexto institucional que justifique a confiança e um ambiente informacional adequado. Para justificá-lo, utilizamos dados.de uma pesquisa sobre um projeto de socialização política no Brasil, o Parlamento Jovem. Trata-se de um quase experimento, com pré-teste, pós-teste e grupo de controle, realizado em Minas Gerais em 2008. A conclusão é que mediante um intenso fluxo informacional, os participantes do projeto adquiriram maior conhecimento a respeito do processo de desenvolvimento institucional da Assembleia Legislativa Mineira, passando, então, a confiar mais nela. Mediante esse quadro, pode-se dizer que confiar é bom.