POLI 435 actual midterm

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435

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Political Science

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Jan 9, 2024

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A. Answer either this essay question A or essay B below, but not both. We have examined “dual transitions” in Latin America – from authoritarianism to democracy and toward economic liberalization or more market-oriented or neoliberal policies. (1, 20 points:) For a country like Argentina, Chile, or Brazil (ok to pick one or talk in general), explain briefly why import- substituting industrialization was increasingly unsustainable over time and then briefly explain two types of critical neoliberal policies enacted in the 1980s or 1990s in response to that. Citing the Naim reading, explain why domestic industrialists might not respond right away to the new neoliberal policies (2, 20 points:) The stress between economic liberalization and political democracy led, according to Kenneth Roberts, to three broad patterns in which he placed several Latin American countries. How does he characterize cases of “institutionalized pluralism” (IP), and why does he put Chile and El Salvador in this same category -- what key similarities (ies) do they share despite their very different past histories with democracy and different levels of economic development? In 1 or 2 sentences, briefly explain for one of these two countries whether IP looked as strong in 2020. (3, 15 points:) Then, citing at least one country example of what he terms “hegemonic popular sovereignty,” explain how economic liberalization in the context of political democratization (a) impacted established party systems in these cases in the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, leading to the emergence of leftist more-or-less “outsider” populist presidents and (b) how these presidents differed from the IP cases in terms of contestation and participation. In Latin America, the ISI model was a popular economic strategy employed by the political elites. While it worked relatively well in the short term, it began to degrade countries' financial status over time. In the 1980 and 90s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and increasing globalization, the ISI model became a hindrance. Nationalism in these countries that perpetuated BA regimes had been discredited by revolutionary violence and repressive militaries. ISI relied on an intensive import economy with state policies that hurt exporters. This created a society where labor was less incentivized, with limited income distribution amongst the people and a growing financial crisis. As the world readily opened its doors to new countries for their goods, Latin America had little produce to supply, creating a large deficit to other countries. Due to this, Latin America began to take a neoliberalist approach to its economy. It encouraged free capitalist trade and an open market. Actions that enabled this were reducing state ownership over industries and promoting the privatization of companies. There was also a reduction of import tariffs and deregulation of capital flows. This allowed for broader income distribution and more diversity in products. Along with this, Latin America wanted to reduce its fiscal deficits through tax reform. This encouraged businesses to produce more for the countries to compete globally. However, according to Naim, leading industrialists were skeptical of many hopeful reforms. Placing so much hope in the success of the government’s developmental strategy sets up the private sector for disappointment. The main risk for the private sector is having too many expectations, so disappointment and failures are bound to occur. These failures could result in public backlash making these reforms harder to maintain and implement. Naim mentions another aspect to consider when considering industrialists and their thoughts on reform: their “hidden” capital will have to be revealed in neoliberal policies. This capital could have been acquired through questionable means, putting their position at risk. Roberts characterizes cases of institutionalized pluralism as an effect in which parties align along the "left-right axis" during a dual transition period. Under Lagos ‘ leadership, Chile was an excellent example of IP in the early 2000s , but now in 2022, the country is not. The

government is now under the leadership of a rightist president, and IP has relatively failed compared to its earlier example. While strikingly different in their transition to democracy, Roberts notes that Chile and El Salvador were similar in that they careened towards institutionalized pluralism in their careening. Rather than heading towards oligarchic restoration like in Honduras and Paraguay. In Venezuela, a different approach to transitioning occurred. This was a Hegemonic Popular Sovereignty approach wherein all parties attempted to be involved in economic stabilization. However, they all failed terribly, especially in Venezuela. This resulted in the emergence of anti-establishment leftists as a leader. These leaders ultimately undermine democracy. They concentrated power within their capabilities to evade checks and balances on themselves. Unlike IP Presidents, the HPS Presidents were anti-establishment and wanted to distance themselves from other aspects of the government. Whereas IP was the direct opposite in that they wanted to utilize government institutions to help restructure the system, HPS created a strong and rash base of supporters that challenged the “elitist” government’s motives. 2. Briefly explain why it is so difficult to determine if the greater attention to high-level corruption in Latin America today is exclusively due to an actual increase in that corruption – what else could be playing a role? Then, highlight at least two measures that Luna & Munck cite as potentially beneficial for the reduction of crime you believe are especially important and a key reason measures such as these can be difficult to legislate or effectively implement even if legislated There has not necessarily been an increase in corruption in modern times. Instead, people are made more aware of it, and it's easier to spot due to improved technology and awareness. Luna and Munck highlight many methods for combatting this corruption while highlighting how it is hard to implement. One strategy for fighting corruption is creating reforms and laws to increase public officials' economic transparency and public disclosure. This can be hard to implement as the corrupted public officials are the ones who sign and approve laws, so they can deny movements that might impede their corruption. Another beneficiary of reducing crime that Luna and Munck mention is global involvement. With the US lending support to Latin American governments to fight corruption, the countries can showcase a more prominent force against wrongdoings. They can also bring a more united front to the world against corruption. However, globalization and the open market of the world highly enable corruption. It is complicated to track down transactions and control corruption due to countries’ laws and policies surrounding their economy. This allows for greater corruption to occur. 3. Some democratic politicians in Southern Cone countries (such as Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay) following transitions from B-A military regimes argued (or might have argued) that they needed to pursue an “ethic of responsibility” when addressing past human rights abuses, while human rights groups were seeking more of an “ethic of ultimate ends.” Explain these terms briefly, drawing on Weber’s use of them in “Politics as a Vocation,” and why these politicians might make this argument, and what the benefits and risks of this stance were at the time Some politicians chose to use an Ethics of Ultimate Ends. This is a form of ethics wherein the result of an action is all that matters. A prime example can be seen in a biblical sense: “The

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