NATIONAL POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS,

 Traditional tripartite division of power: Executive ◦ Strong executives go back to role of Spanish/Portuguese kinds during the reconquest ◦ Center of governmental power since independence in Latin American states ◦ President/dictators tendeded to remain in office for decades in the first century after independence  Nation building  Violence  Monarchical tradition

CAUDILLOS Gen. Manuel Rosas (Argentina) ◦ Spain and the adelantados ◦ Tentativeness of imperial power on the large estates ◦ Destruction of central authority in the independence struggle

 Longevity in power was accompanied by ◦ human rights abuses ◦ Development of cult of personality ◦ Denigration of rules, procedures and the law

Rafael Trujillo (Dominican Republic)  Diaz in Mexico ( )  Juan Vicente Gomez in Venezuela (1907 – 1935)  Trujillo in the Dominican Republic ( )

◦ Limits on reelection dissipate  One additional presidential term becoming more common in “Third Wave” democracies  Presidential dictators appear in the twenty- first century?

 More on the executive  Multiple executive a failure (Uruguay)  Some experimentation with parliamentary system  Brazil ( )  Peru – prime minister assists the president in administering the bureaucracy  Vice presidents  viewed with suspicion  Sometimes bypassed when presidency becomes vacant

Legislative Argentine National Congress  Traditional tripartite division of power  Bicameral most common  States and regions represented in upper chamber  Population based lower chambers

UNICAMERAL El Salvador: Legislative Assembly  Common in smaller and centralized states  Questioning of the utility of upper chamber in Venezuelan constitution of 1999

 Generally subservient to the executive ◦ Tradition of executive dominance ◦ Personalism is culturally valued  Patronage tends to flow from the executive  Party discipline of individual legislators  Efforts to increase autonomy/power of legislature ◦ Brazil 1992 ◦ Venezuela 1993

JUDICIARY Brasilia: Supreme Court of Brazil ◦ National court system  Most law based on code model (Roman law modified by Napoleon)  Dependent on executive whim in traditional dictatorships  Special courts  Military (fuero)  Labor) ◦ State courts – traditionally tied to local political structure ◦ Municipal courts – relatively minor importance  Traffic violations  Enforcement of zoning

 Justices named for a fixed term  Writs of AMPARO

 People’s Power (ombudsman function)  Electoral Power ◦ National Electoral Council named through political interaction involving national executive, legislature and political parties ◦ Regional or state electoral councils report to National Electoral Council

Federalism Boundaries and powers of regional governments laid out in constitution  Characteristic of larger countries  Provides some independence for regional leaders  Local culture and customs have more influence  Often violated in practice

Unitary state organization Regional governments administrative subdivisions of national government  Regional governments function as administrative subdivisions of the national government  Characteristic of small countries  Local culture and customs less given less importance El Salvador

 Decentralization currently in vogue ◦ More participation ◦ More efficiency in resource allocation ◦ Strong resistance continues  Opposition to decentralization remains deep- seated ◦ Castro in Cuba ◦ Chavez in Venezuela