scholarly journals Overcoming the Limits of Legal Opportunity Structures: LGBT Rights’ Divergent Paths in Costa Rica and Colombia

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce M. Wilson ◽  
Camila Gianella-Malca
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Judicial Politics ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Lgbt Rights ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Right ◽  
Latin American Countries

ABSTRACTCosta Rica and Colombia, two of the earliest Latin American countries to protect many LGBT rights, attempted to amplify those rights and litigate same-sex marriage (SSM) in mid-2000s; however, these attempts sparked a major anti-LGBT backlash by religious and conservative organizations. Yet a decade later, Colombia legalized SSM while Costa Rica still lacks the right to SSM. Using a most-similar systems comparative case study, this study engages the judicial politics literature to explain this divergent outcome. It details how courts, while staying receptive to many individual LGBT rights claims, deferred SSM legalization to popularly elected branches. In spite of the lack of legislative success in both countries, in Colombia a new litigation strategy harnessed that deference to craft a litigated route to legalized SSM. In Costa Rica, the courts’ lack of conditions or deadlines has left SSM foundering in the congress.

scholarly journals A case study in Costa Rica about personal happiness: Does health and family communication have more influence than quantity of money and material goods?

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-170
Author(s):  
Carliann J. Pentz ◽  
Daniel Rojas ◽  
Michael B. McCoy ◽  
Christopher S. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Validated Questionnaire ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
Latin American Countries

From extensive research on the phenomenom of “simpatía”, known as a relationship or an affinity between people or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other, in Latin American countries, many characteristics, such as friendliness and a positive attitude, have been identified. However, despite such positive attitudes, very few studies measured levels of happiness and satisfaction in these communities, specifically Costa Rica. This study measured happiness levels during March-April 2012 in San Ramón, Costa Rica. Created questionnaires measuring happiness levels were distributed to 197 participants (104 M, 92 F, 1 Unknown).   A validated questionnaire showed homogeneity to our created questionnaire (P<0,0001).  Mean responses relating happiness to “good health” (=4,73) and “family communication” (= 4,58) were greater than responses of “quantity of money made each month” (= 3,49) or “owning material goods” (= 3,49) (P<0,05).  Mean responses of “having a national army” (= 1,73) were smaller than responses to “living in nature” (= 4,62). On terms of gender and sexuality rights, most participants did not support the idea of homosexuality, and while equal gender rights was supported, more women than men felt happier by this concept (P=0,0004). The major limitation for this study was limited time, area, and the number of participants.KEY WORDSCosta Rica, family communication, good health, happiness levels, income levels, material possessions,  simpatía

scholarly journals Democratic Values, Religiosity, and Support for Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 75-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Dion ◽  
Jordi Díez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractLatin America has been at the forefront of the expansion of rights for same-sex couples. Proponents of same-sex marriage frame the issue as related to human rights and democratic deepening; opponents emphasize morality tied to religious values. Elite framing shapes public opinion when frames resonate with individuals’ values and the frame source is deemed credible. Using surveys in 18 Latin American countries in 2010 and 2012, this article demonstrates that democratic values are associated with support for same-sex marriage while religiosity reduces support, particularly among strong democrats. The tension between democratic and religious values is particularly salient for women, people who live outside the capital city, and people who came of age during or before democratization.

scholarly journals Políticas estudiantiles en la formación docente: Problemas pedagógicos y debates en perspectiva suramericana

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Birgin ◽  
Alejandro Vassiliades
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Latin American ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
New Students ◽  
Training Institutions ◽  
Teaching Positions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Educational Inclusion ◽  
Latin American Countries

Within the framework of the process of enrollment expansion in teacher training (in the context of the expansion of the higher education level), some Latin American countries have developed specific policies for the student population of teacher training institutions. In this article we analyze how these policies bring new questions to the field of teacher training, linked to the ways in which “new” students are questioned and their effects on the construction of teaching positions. For this, we address a series of speeches from international organizations (with marked influence in the region), which coincide in describing future teachers as deficit subjects. At the same time, we go through a set of student policies that assumed diverse orientations regarding the right to education of these populations and regarding the right of their future students. We understand that these policies and discourses have an effect on the configuration of teaching positions with respect to educational inclusion.

scholarly journals Los límites de la participación política en una democracia excepcional: migrantes en Costa Rica

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Luicy Pedroza
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Emigrants And Immigrants ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Latin American Region ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right

In comparison to other countries in the Latin American region, especially in Central America, support for democracy in Costa Rica is high –despite ups and downs in recent years. Still, regarding the challenges that immigration poses for the principles of democratic inclusion and representation, Costa Rica lag behind 11 countries in Latin America –and 35 democracies in the world– where immigrant residents have the right to vote in local elections. In Chile and Uruguay, the only countries in the region where support for democracy tops that observed in Costa Rica, the right to vote of immigrant residents even reaches national elections. With such a comparative background, this article addresses the question: how to explain that this democracy ignores the tendency to give the right to vote to resident migrants? The study reveals a society in which the narrative of exceptionality with respect to other countries of the continent and the formal primacy of nationality to political citizenship, allow tolerating a clear inequality between the political rights of emigrants and immigrants.

scholarly journals c) Cuba: A Sui Generis Case Study (Communist Proxy)

2021 ◽  
pp. 309-317
Author(s):  
Jason García Portilla
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Institutional Influence ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractThe anti-clerical elements of the Revolution helped Cuba succeed in various indicators (e.g. education quality and coverage, equality, health). The Cuban regime seized, dismantled, and limited the institutional influence of Roman Catholicism on these areas of public life. However, a strong cultural influence of a highly syncretised Roman Catholicism persists in Cuba even if its institutional influence has been curbed. Also, the Communist regime, by adopting Marxism, “threw the baby out with the bathwater” through persecuting all types of religion, including Protestant liberals. Finally, the Cuban regime conveniently turned to Rome to legitimise itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to silence Protestantism with a corporatist strategy. The socialist legal tradition had an effect opposite to its claims (e.g. lack of freedom, corruption), even if its anti-clerical element was an advantage. Comparing the Cuban experience to other Latin American countries with leftist dictatorships (e.g. Venezuela) helps understand their failure to achieve the Cuban indicators (e.g. education). The crucial factor in this regard is whether or not the power and influence of the Roman Church-State are reduced.

scholarly journals Precipitation Regimes during Cold-Season Central U.S. Inverted Trough Cases. Part II: A Comparative Case Study

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-643
Author(s):  
Philip N. Schumacher ◽  
Gregory Frosig ◽  
Jason L. Selzler ◽  
Robert A. Weisman
Keyword(s):  
Cold Season ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Northern Plains ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
Warm Front ◽  
Precipitation Regimes ◽  
Secondary Circulations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Jet Streak

Abstract This is the second of two papers that examine the organization of the precipitation field during central U.S. cold-season cyclones involving inverted troughs (ITs). The first paper (Part I) used a climatology and composites to find synoptic-scale differences between storms with precipitation located ahead of the IT (ahead cases) and those with precipitation located behind the IT (behind cases). This paper expands the conclusions in Part I through the use of a comparative case study between two cyclones. The first cyclone, on 29 October 1996, was an ahead case that produced heavy rainfall and was associated with a potential vorticity (PV) anomaly moving across the central plains. The IT formed in the lee of the Rockies prior to 0600 UTC 29 October and moved east into the northern plains over the next 18 h. The trough itself was coincident with the limiting streamline, which separated moist air rising over the warm front from dry air subsiding behind the cyclone. The second cyclone, on 17–18 January 1996, had precipitation on both sides of the IT and was associated with heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the northern plains and significant ice accumulation in the western Great Lakes. The IT was associated with large frontogenesis over the snow area. The ascent was further enhanced by a jet streak moving across southern Canada. Dynamically, the IT resembled a warm front, with veering winds with height and a strong frontal inversion. The mechanism that appeared to control the different precipitation organization between the two systems was the orientation of the PV anomalies and the airstreams associated with their secondary circulations. This resulted in a differing orientation of the baroclinicity north and east of the cyclone. In the ahead case, the rising branches of the secondary circulations forced by the northern and southern anomalies remained separate. This allowed the baroclinicity to develop along the traditional warm front, while the IT never developed a thermal gradient as it moved east. In the both sides case, the southern stream anomaly helped to fix the northern anomaly-forced jet streak in place, so that a strong temperature gradient developed along the IT with strong frontogenesis and warm-air advection observed behind the IT. As the frontal circulation developed, the direct circulation associated with the right entrance region of a jet streak enhanced the ascent to the west of the IT. A conceptual model is proposed based upon the case studies and the results of Part I. This model can be used by forecasters to differentiate between the precipitation regimes in cyclones associated with ITs.

scholarly journals Institutional Reform and Rights Revolutions in Latin America: The Cases of Costa Rica and Colombia

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce M. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
System Design ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Operating Rules ◽  
High Courts ◽  
The World ◽  
Latin American Countries

This article analyzes the conditions that allowed for expansive rights revolutions in Costa Rica and Colombia. My research suggests that many of the preconditions for rights revolutions in other regions of the world are also central to understanding Latin American cases. Of particular relevance is judicial system design including the high courts’ operating rules concerning access, standing, and judicial formality. These factors can and do mitigate the need for extensive resources and support structures necessary in other non-Latin American countries in which rights revolutions have occurred.

scholarly journals Contributions to Transformative Change in Cambodia: A Study on Returnees as Institutional Entrepreneurs

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gea D. M. Wijers
Keyword(s):  
Study Data ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Phnom Penh ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities ◽  
Transnational Social Networks

This paper explores the experiences of Cambodian French returnees who are contributing to transformative change in Cambodia as institutional entrepreneurs. In order to delve into how returnees and their work are perceived in both host and home country, this multi-sited research project was designed as a comparative case study. Data was primarily collected through conversations with individual informants from the Lyonnese and Parisian Cambodian community as well as selected key informants in Phnom Penh. Excerpts of case studies are presented and discussed to illustrate the history, context and situation of their return as these influence their institutional entrepreneurial activities and the ways in which they use their transnational social networks as resources. It is argued that the process of return and the initiation of institutional entrepreneurship are best explored through the threefold activities of returnees’ brokering, bargaining and building for transformative change as affected by (trans)national opportunity structures and institutions.

scholarly journals Citizenship acquisition of Turkish immigrants in Canada and Germany: a comparative analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Yetkin Aker
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Turkish Immigrants ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Right

Abstract This study aims to shed light on how high-skilled and business Turkish immigrants (HSBTI) decide to acquire host country’s citizenship and why some of them choose not to seek naturalization. With this in mind, a comparative case study of Canada and Germany was designed. It is proposed that host country citizenship and migration policy, social, economic and political costs and benefits of host country’s citizenship and individuals’ conceptualization of citizenship impact the decision-making process of HSBTI. Based on the data results, the study argues that social, economic and political opportunities in host countries (such as the right to vote), multicultural migration and citizenship policies of those countries and valuing citizenship as a commodity positively influence the naturalization decisions of HSBTI interviewees, while restricted policies, economic costs of citizenship and seeing citizenship as a sense of belonging adversely affect their decisions.

scholarly journals Using Joint Scaling Methods to Study Ideology and Representation: Evidence from Latin America

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián M. Saiegh
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Common Space ◽  
Scaling Methods ◽  
Ideological Space ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Right ◽  
Latin American Countries

In this article, I use joint scaling methods and similar items from three large-scale surveys to place voters, parties, and politicians from different Latin American countries on a common ideological space. The findings reveal that ideology is a significant determinant of vote choice in Latin America. They also suggest that the success of leftist leaders at the polls reflects the views of the voters sustaining their victories. The location of parties and leaders reveals that three distinctive clusters exist: one located at the left of the political spectrum, another at the center, and a third on the right. The results also indicate that legislators in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru tend to be more “leftists” than their voters. The ideological drift, however, is not significant enough to substantiate the view that a disconnect between voters and politicians lies behind the success of leftist presidents in these countries. These findings highlight the importance of using a common-space scale to compare disparate populations and call into question a number of recent studies by scholars of Latin American politics who fail to adequately address this important issue.

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