Contemporary Issues in Latin America

3 units

How do the institutional designs of contemporary democratic governments help us understand the nature and quality of representation? We will concentrate on variations in the powers granted presidents by constitutions as well as the institutional determinants of whether executives are likely to find support for their policies in the legislature. In addition, we will explore how incentives established by electoral laws influence the priorities of members of congress. Given all these variations in democratic institutional design, can voters go to the polls with the confidence that politicians will implement the economic policies for which their parties have long stood or which they promised in their campaigns?