This paper studies the historical origins of the federalist institutions in Mexico and Brazil. Using a bargaining game model, I argue that the type of commodities each country produced by the end of the nineteenth Century determined the negotiation power of local governments. This led to the...

This paper examines how the adoption of the Australian ballot (AB), and ipso facto, the transition from the nominal to effective secret vote, shaped the nature of party politics in Brazil. Engaging the literature on political clientelism, the impact of the AB on three outcomes is studied: 1) the...

The article presents an analysis of the relations between national state and human rights in Brazil between the years of 1968 and 1996. The purpose is to reconstruct the historical process of the incorporation of this theme as a state policy and to put into evidence the conditionings of the...

The essay intends to analyze the competition policy in Brazil after twelve years of the Law n. 8.884/1994, which has effectively inaugurated it. Thus, it initiates with a historical approach, exposing the principal premises that guide this public policy exercise. Utilizing data from the...

This chapter argues that notwithstanding the recent improvements, the Brazilian society has still much to do to strengthen its institutions and to enhance the quality of its democracy concerning the regulation of security and defense. It examines historical aspects pertaining civil-military...

The paper is an exploratory historical analysis, based on documentary research and literature review, which focuses on the formation of the bureaucratic apparatus in the area of economic infrastructure, analyzed from the perspective of the construction of the Brazilian State and its technical,...

States' governance of gender is not unidirectional. In addition to 'stagnation' and 'progress', there can be an active reversal of rights already granted to women. Using the case of abortion rights in El Salvador, this paper investigates the following questions: What are the likely causes of...

The paper deals with changes in the regulation and supervision of the Latin American financial sector in the aftermath of the ‘Tequila Crisis’ of 1994–95. While it finds that both have improved, regulation and supervision cannot resolve all problems; good macroeconomic policy and...