Why Do Non‐Resident Citizens Get Elected? Candidates' Electoral Success in Ecuadorian Extraterritorial Districts

To the growing literature on non-resident citizens’ special representation, we contribute with a systematic examination of the role of descriptive representation of citizens living abroad in elections for extraterritorial districts. Using data for the 308 candidacy observations in three two-seat extraterritorial districts in five legislative elections held between 2007 and 2021 in Ecuador, for a total of 30 seats, we test four hypotheses related to the electoral rules, party-level, and socio-demographic factors of non-resident candidates. Ecuadorian non-resident candidates benefit from their incumbency position and party affiliation, along with left-wing ideological ascription and belonging to party organizations that pushed for voting rights abroad and that manifest an interest in emigrant issues. This article contributes to showing what gets emigrants elected in extraterritorial seats and offers a within-country comparison connecting elections with legislative politics across national borders

Cambiando la cerradura. Intenciones legislativas del proyecto de ley de migraciones en Chile

Objetivo/contexto: las democracias latinoamericanas del siglo XXI enfrentan una tensión entre “proteger” la soberanía estatal con políticas inmigratorias más restrictivas y adscribirse a los diálogos y acuerdos internacionales más liberales, que promocionan los derechos y la movilidad humana. Una mayor migración intrarregional, especialmente desde Venezuela, ha llevado a varios países a restringir derechos y libertades previamente reconocidos. Nuestro objetivo es profundizar en este giro hacia la restrictividad mediante un análisis empírico de las tendencias e intenciones legislativas de inmigración en Chile. Metodología: desde 2018, el Gobierno de Chile ha promovido medidas para “ordenar” y “regular” la inmigración. Entre estas, modificar la Ley de Migraciones de 1975. Empleamos el índice de políticas de inmigración en comparación (IMPIC), utilizando el proyecto de Ley 8970-06 y la Ley 20430 de refugiados. Conclusión: la administración chilena presenta intenciones legislativas de una mayor restrictividad frente a la inmigración económica y la reunificación familiar, que se direccionan a constreñir la movilidad humana. Originalidad: el artículo extiende el uso de IMPIC en 2010 a 2019, y lo aplica por primera vez en las intenciones legislativas de un gobierno incumbente para comprender mejor los cambios en las estrategias del país como un Estado migratorio.Objective/Context: Latin American democracies in the 21st century are torn between “protecting” state sovereignty by increasing restrictiveness in immigration legislation versus adhering to more liberal international agreements advocating human rights and mobility. Increases intraregional migration, especially from Venezuela, have pushed some South American countries to limit rights and freedoms previously included in immigration policies. Our objective is to further examine this shift to restrictiveness by empirically evaluating legislative intentions in Chile. Methodology: Since 2018 the Chilean government has implemented various measures aimed to achieve “orderly” and “regular” immigration, as well as proposed a law project to replace the Migration Law of 1975, adopted during the civic-military regime. We apply the Immigration Policies in Comparison (IMPIC) index using Chile’s law proposal 8970-06 and its refugee Law 20.430. Conclusion: The Chilean administration’s legislative intentions indicate tightening restrictions constraining human mobility, especially for labor immigration and family reunification. Originality: This article extends the IMPIC index from 2010 to 2019, applying it for the first time to legislative intentions of an incumbent government, to shed light on how countries, as migration states, change strategies over time.Objetivo/contexto: as democracias latino-americanas do século XXI enfrentam uma tensão entre ‘proteger’ a soberania estatal com mais restrições em suas políticas migratórias e subscrever aos diálogos e acordos internacionais mais liberais, promovendo os direitos e a mobilidade humana. O aumento da migração intrarregional, especialmente da Venezuela, levou vários países a restringir direitos e liberdades anteriormente reconhecidos. Nosso objetivo é o de nos aprofundar nesta inflexão restritiva, através de uma análise empírica das intenções legislativas migratórias do Chile. Metodologia: desde 2018, o governo do Chile tem promovido medidas distintas com o objetivo de “regular” e “ordenar” a imigração. Entre estes, ela modificou a Lei de Migração de 1975. Empregamos o índice de Políticas de Imigração em Comparação (IMPIC), utilizando o Projeto de Lei 8970-06 e a Lei 20.430 sobre refugiados. Conclusão: o governo chileno tem intenções legislativas para uma maior restritividade diante da imigração econômica e reunificação familiar, que têm como objetivo restringir a mobilidade humana. Originalidade: o artigo estende o uso do IMPIC em 2010 até 2019, aplicando-o pela primeira vez nas intenções legislativas de um governo em exercício para entender melhor as mudanças nas estratégias do país como um estado migratório

Evaluating special representation of non-resident citizens : eligibility, constituency and proportionality

Published online: 10 May 2024So far, 21 countries have introduced—and some thereafter withdrawn—reserved legislative seats for their citizens living abroad. Existing literature on this form of special representation has studied this topic either empirically or normatively. We bring these two approaches together based on the main dimensions of institutional variation of special representation: (1) eligibility, (2) constituency structure and (3) electoral proportionality. We first discuss each dimension from a normative perspective. In the second step, we map the range of empirical variation and highlight the most common arrangements. We conclude that the normative justification for special representation is generally weak, but some institutional configurations pose fewer problems. Specifically, we see fewer issues with special representation when electoral inclusion is limited to the first generation of emigrants and when it is used to limit the electoral influence of non-resident populations that make up a large share of the overall electorate. By grounding our normative discussion on an empirical mapping, we bridge two disconnected literatures on special representation of non-resident citizens.This article was published Open Access with the support from the EUI Library through the CRUI - Wiley Transformative Agreement (2024-2027)

Between the rock and a hard place : Ecuador during the covid-19 pandemic

In 2020, Ecuadorian politics was not only constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also stirred by political instability and an intense online electoral campaign. In this article, we outline the Ecuadorian economic, social, and political context from February 2020 to February 2021. Then, we explore the core measures and overall impacts of the COVID-19 on Ecuadorian politics. We also present the main institutional and policy changes, bearing in mind that 2020 was the last year of Lenín Moreno’s presidential term. In addition, this article examines the latest electoral reform and the main issues of the electoral campaign, as well as the key results of the national and Andean elections of February 2021

Populismo y polarización política en la Región Andina. Entre los líderes y la demanda populista

Este artículo combina el estudio del populismo y la polarización política en Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. Utilizando datos agregados de la región andina, se indica una relación significativa entre la presencia de líderes populistas y el incremento en la polarización política. Luego, empleando datos individuales provenientes de una encuesta en línea a ecuatorianos mayores de 16 años, aplicada en 2019, 2020 y 2021, se consideran las actitudes políticas para el estudio de la interacción entre el populismo y la polarización política. Intuitivamente, los resultados corroboran que las actitudes políticas del electorado contribuyen al éxito electoral de líderes populistas. A su vez, las actitudes políticas aumentan indirectamente las probabilidades de polarización política

Political Regimes and External Voting Rights: A Cross-National Comparison

In this article, we analyze the nexus between political regimes and external voting rights. Using a global longitudinal dataset, we report that higher levels of inclusion and contestation bring higher probabilities that a state adopts and implements emigrant enfranchisement. Taking outliers from our quantitative assessment, we then further examine two liberal democracies, Ireland and Uruguay, and two electoral autocracies, Turkey and Venezuela. These country cases reveal three mechanisms that shed light on the strategic role of political elites in explaining the relation between political regime type and emigrant enfranchisement. First, the democracies under study show us that in certain contexts with a relatively large diaspora size and in which part of the political spectrum is hesitant about the political orientation of nonresident citizens, emigrant enfranchisement is neither necessarily promulgated nor implemented. Second, the autocracies illustrate that when the diaspora favors (or is perceived to favor) the incumbency, then external voting rights are extended; otherwise, third, they are withheld or limited for nonresident citizens

Estado, (e)migración y voto: análisis longitudinal de la experiencia ecuatoriana (2006-2019)

En este artículo examinamos el comportamiento electoral de los ecuatorianos radicados en el exterior de manera longitudinal (2006-2019). Se utilizan resultados electorales, documentos jurídicos y 685 observaciones individuales provenientes de una encuesta no-probabilística estratificada en varias ciudades. En esta investigación enmarcamos al caso ecuatoriano dentro del transnacionalismo político, particularmente como un ejemplo de transnacionalismo de Estado. Los resultados se dividen en cuatro sub-apartados: 1) la evolución del padrón del exterior; 2) la participación de los ecuatorianos no-residentes por proceso electoral, circunscripción (del exterior) y tipo de elección; 3) sus inclinaciones ideológicas; y 4) sus preferencias electorales

Extending the incumbency presence abroad: The case of MPAIS in Ecuadorian elections

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Should we go abroad? : the strategic entry of Ecuadorian political parties in overseas electoral districts

First published online: 08 April 2021The literature on external voting overlooks why some political parties campaign abroad while others remain focused on the national territory. This article investigates the determinants of the strategic entry of political parties in overseas districts through analysing legislative elections in Ecuador (2007–2017). Based on a study of the incentives and constraints of political party presence abroad, we find that parties are more likely to compete for elections in overseas districts displaying a weaker party competition as well as when they account for previous electoral experience in these districts