Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T06:30:19.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender Policy and State Architecture in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2011

Susan Franceschet
Susan Franceschet
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Latin American countries display wide variation in gender equality and organized women's capacity to mobilize and influence policy outcomes. Yet there are also many similarities in the region's political systems and sociocultural contexts that affect women's politics and its impact. These include presidential systems that, in theory, divide power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, but often concentrate power in the executive; deep social and regional inequalities; and the influence of organized religion. How these factors affect women's lives, however, is also shaped by vertical divisions of powers. Although only four Latin American states are federations (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela), most other countries undertook decentralization in the last two decades, transferring service delivery and program implementation (but not taxing authority) to regional or local levels. Because in some cases decentralization occurred under authoritarian regimes, or in newly democratizing states in the midst of fiscal crises, it has not ultimately deepened Latin American democracy.

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 273 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cuddehe, Mary. 2009. “Mexico's Abortion Wars.” The Atlantic, October. Available at, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/10/mexico-apos-s-abortion-wars/7768/Google Scholar
Franceschet, Susan. 2010a. “Explaining Domestic Violence Policy in Chile and Argentina.” Latin American Politics & Society 52 (3): 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franceschet, Susan. 2010b. “Continuity or Change? Gender Policy in the Bachelet Administration.” In The Bachelet Government, ed. Silvia, Borzutzky, and Weeks, Gregory B.Gainesville: University of Florida Press.Google Scholar
Gibson, Edward L. 2004. “Federalism and Democracy: Theoretical Connections and Cautionary Insights.” In Federalism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Gibson, Edward L.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Htun, Mala. 2009. “Life, Liberty, and Family Values: Church and State in the Struggle over Latin America's Social Agenda.” In Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America, ed. Hagopian, FrancesSouth Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 335–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Htun, Mala, and Weldon, S. Laurel. 2010. “When Do Governments Promote Women's Rights? A Framework for the Analysis of Sex Equality Policy.” Perspectives on Politics 8 (1): 207–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piscopo, Jennifer M. 2009. “Female Leadership and Sexual Health Policy in Argentina” Prepared for the 28th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Google Scholar
Schuster, Gloria, and Jurado, Mariana García. 2006. “Análisis Comparativo de la Legislación Nacional y Provincial en Materia de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva.” In La Política Pública de Salud y Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos en Argentina, ed. Buenos Aires: CEDES and UNFPA, 17–45.Google Scholar
Smulovitz, Catalina. 2010. “The Unequal Distribution of Legal Rights: Who Gets What and Where in the Argentinian Provinces?” Presented at the 29th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Toronto.Google Scholar
Stein, Ernesto, Tommasi, Mariano, Echebarría, Koldo, Lora, Eduardo, and Payne, Mark. 2005. The Politics of Policies: Economic and Social Progress in Latin America. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, David Rockefeller Center for Latin America Studies.Google Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2011. “Gendering Federalism: Institutions of Decentralization and Power-Sharing.” In Gender, Politics and Institutions, ed. Krook, Mona Lena, and Mackay, Fiona. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 129–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2010. “A Two-Way Street: Federalism and Women's Politics in Canada and the United States.” Publius 40 (3): 412–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar