Ana Margheritis

Piecemeal regional integration in the post-neoliberal era: negotiating migration policies within Mercosur

ABSTRACT The negotiation of migration issues within the Latin American Southern Cone Market (Mercosur) has gained momentum lately and has followed a specific (relatively autonomous and fast) dynamic that is unprecedented and contrasts with the slow and conflictive negotiations to achieve the blocs economic goals. This study explains why negotiations to harmonize migration policies are taking place, why now, and how this is happening in a way that contradicts previous assumptions. It highlights a number of facts and explanatory factors largely neglected by the existing literature, such as: (1) instable political contexts in which social inequality, marginalization, and discontent call attention to socio-political issues and prompt state attempts to regulate human mobility cooperatively; (2) regional leadership that is not simply based on relative power and economic interests but on ideologically-loaded political projects and key actors who forge and legitimize a post-neoliberal consensus linking domestic and foreign policy strategies; (3) policy networks of private and public actors whose ideas inform top policy-makers discourses and contribute to the processes of socialization of policy elites, construction of shared understandings, and cultivation of cooperative practices that feed regional integration. The findings and conclusions shed light on the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy, as well as the processes of coalition- and identity-building that are allowing South American governments to expand cooperation in a piecemeal and somewhat inconsistent fashion.

Why do presidents fail? political leadership and the Argentine crisis (1999–2001)

This article explores why Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa (1999–2001) failed to govern and the factors that prevented him from compelting his constitutional mandate. This study draw on current literature about leadership. We argue that President De la Rúa’s ineffective performance was characteristic of an inflexible tendency towards unilateralism, isolationism, and an inability to compromise and persuade. Moreover, we examine how de la Rúas performance, in the context of severe political and economic constraints, discouraged cooperative practices among political actors, led to decision-making paralysis, and ultimately to a crisis of governanceThis work seeks to make four contributions. First, it conceptualizes political leadership by providing an analytical framework that integrates individual action, institutional resources and constraints, and policy context, thus filling a gap in the literature. Second, it explains the importance of effective leadership in building up and maintaining multiparty coalitions in presidential systems. Third, it complements existing institutional approaches to improve our understanding of a new type of instability in Latin America: the failure of more than a dozen of presidents to complete their constitutional mandates. Fourth, it analyzes the way political and economic variables interact in times of crisis.

Redrawing the Contours of the Nation-State in Uruguay? The Vicissitudes of Emigration Policy in the 2000s

This study analyzes Uruguays recently launched emigration policy. It argues that the redrawing of the boundaries of the nation-state along non-territorial basis is still an incipient and contested process. The findings highlight some relatively under-explored explanatory factors: emigrants’ profile; political junctures requiring immediate commitment; the impact of rhetorical changes and post-neoliberal projects; presidents as policy drivers and sources of inconsistencies; and institutional deficiencies, inertias, lack of reform, and societys conflictive notions of nation and belonging as brakes. The conclusions indicate that the sustainability of emigration policy is contingent on the states progress toward internal reform and societys ability to acquire a greater voice and more organizational capacity. Exploring emigration policy characteristics and sources of setbacks in Uruguay unveils the inter-mestic character of state transnational outreach efforts, qualifies and refines existing explanations, expands our understanding of new governance techniques, and provides some insights into the requirements for emigration policies to work effectively.

Las elites políticas y económicas frente al proceso de privatización y regulación de servicios públicos en la Argentina. una encuesta de 1999

Policy innovation poses a great challenge to governments to generate stable expectations about a new set of incentives. Drawing on the results of a survey conducted in mid-1999, this article explores the sources and characteristics of top leader’s perceptions about the program of structural reforms implemented in Argentina during the last decade. In particular, it tries to asses and measure whether a reformist consensus between political and business leaders emerged around the privatization and regulation policies, what the main issues around which that consensus revolves are, and to what extent it may translate into a source of stability and consolidation of reforms.

Governing the Americas: Assessing Multilateral Institutions (review)

This is an excellent volume that provides a fine and updated analysis of the recent evolution and current state of hemispheric regionalism in the Americas. It focuses on the institutional dimension of inter-American relations in four areas: the general regional process and institutional arrangements, security, democracy and human rights, and trade and economic development. The focus on governance is a refreshing and welcome approach to the study of these topics and probably the main contribution of this book.