A tale of two Latin American congresses : towards a comparative study of institutionalization and effectiveness

Fil: Palanza, M. Valeria. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.Fil: Scartascini, Carlos G. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.Fil: Tommasi, Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.This paper is concerned with the characteristics, determinants and consequences of varying levels of congressional institutionalization. Our work can be traced back to the early work on congressional institutionalization done by Polsby (1968), which is complemented here by the game-theoretic notion that institutionalization is an equilibrium outcome that emerges from the beliefs and investments made by relevant political actors. The paper explores key characteristics and trends surrounding legislative careers and congressional assets such as organization and resources. It does so to uncover the effects of different belief systems and investment dynamics on levels of institutionalization and, ultimately, on policy outcomes. We approach our puzzle by analyzing two close yet contrasting cases: Argentina and Chile, which possess stark differences on many policy and institutional dimensions, despite relatively similar constitutional settings

Vetos parciales e intentos de insistencia en legislaturas multipartidistas

This paper analyzes the dynamics of vetoes and veto overrides in the context of a multiparty legislature using an original dataset from the period 1983–2007 in Argentina. We argue that the President can use an “item” or “partial” veto to selectively delete articles, while keeping enough distributive goods in the bill to break up the coalition responsible for its passage, thereby eliminating support for an override. Our research reveals that total vetoes – which affect all legislators equally – are more likely to be overridden than partial vetoes. Contradicting the received wisdom that in multiparty legislatures override attempts are more likely under a divided government, we find that override attempts are more likely in plurality governments. We use case analyses to illustrate the main arguments developed in this paper.El trabajo estudia las dinámicas desatadas por la práctica del veto presidencial e insistencias del congreso, en el contexto de legislaturas multipartidarias, a través del análisis de una base de datos original que abarca el período 1983-2007 en Argentina. El trabajo argumenta que el presidente puede usar el veto parcial para quitar del texto, en forma selectiva, artículos puntuales, dejando al mismo tiempo en el texto bienes distributivos suficientes como para romper la coalición responsable de la aprobación del proyecto, de manera tal de eliminar la posibilidad de una insistencia. La investigación revela que los vetos totales, que afectan por igual a todos los legisladores, son más factibles de ser insistidos que los vetos parciales. En contra de lo sostenido al momento acerca de que en legislaturas multipartidarias los intentos de insistencia son más factibles bajo gobierno dividido, este trabajo encuentra que son más factibles cuando el gobierno cuenta con al menos una pluralidad en una de las cámaras. Además del análisis cuantitativo, presentamos estudios de casos para ilustrar los argumentos desarrollados en el artículo

Item Vetoes and Attempts to Override Them in Multiparty Legislatures

This paper analyzes the dynamics of vetoes and veto overrides in the context of a multiparty legislature using an original dataset from the period 1983–2007 in Argentina. We argue that the President can use an “item” or “partial” veto to selectively delete articles, while keeping enough distributive goods in the bill to break up the coalition responsible for its passage, thereby eliminating support for an override. Our research reveals that total vetoes – which affect all legislators equally – are more likely to be overridden than partial vetoes. Contradicting the received wisdom that in multiparty legislatures override attempts are more likely under a divided government, we find that override attempts are more likely in plurality governments. We use case analyses to illustrate the main arguments developed in this paper.El trabajo estudia las dinámicas desatadas por la práctica del veto presidencial e insistencias del congreso, en el contexto de legislaturas multipartidarias, a través del análisis de una base de datos original que abarca el período 1983-2007 en Argentina. El trabajo argumenta que el presidente puede usar el veto parcial para quitar del texto, en forma selectiva, artículos puntuales, dejando al mismo tiempo en el texto bienes distributivos suficientes como para romper la coalición responsable de la aprobación del proyecto, de manera tal de eliminar la posibilidad de una insistencia. La investigación revela que los vetos totales, que afectan por igual a todos los legisladores, son más factibles de ser insistidos que los vetos parciales. En contra de lo sostenido al momento acerca de que en legislaturas multipartidarias los intentos de insistencia son más factibles bajo gobierno dividido, este trabajo encuentra que son más factibles cuando el gobierno cuenta con al menos una pluralidad en una de las cámaras. Además del análisis cuantitativo, presentamos estudios de casos para ilustrar los argumentos desarrollados en el artículo

Item Vetoes and Attempts to Override Them in Multiparty Legislatures Vetos parciales e intentos de insistencia en legislaturas multipartidistas

This paper analyzes the dynamics of vetoes and veto overrides in the context of a multiparty legislature using an original dataset from the period 1983–2007 in Argentina. We argue that the President can use an “item” or “partial” veto to selectively delete articles, while keeping enough distributive goods in the bill to break up the coalition responsible for its passage, thereby eliminating support for an override. Our research reveals that total vetoes – which affect all legislators equally – are more likely to be overridden than partial vetoes. Contradicting the received wisdom that in multiparty legislatures override attempts are more likely under a divided government, we find that override attempts are more likely in plurality governments. We use case analyses to illustrate the main arguments developed in this paper.<br>El trabajo estudia las dinámicas desatadas por la práctica del veto presidencial e insistencias del congreso, en el contexto de legislaturas multipartidarias, a través del análisis de una base de datos original que abarca el período 1983-2007 en Argentina. El trabajo argumenta que el presidente puede usar el veto parcial para quitar del texto, en forma selectiva, artículos puntuales, dejando al mismo tiempo en el texto bienes distributivos suficientes como para romper la coalición responsable de la aprobación del proyecto, de manera tal de eliminar la posibilidad de una insistencia. La investigación revela que los vetos totales, que afectan por igual a todos los legisladores, son más factibles de ser insistidos que los vetos parciales. En contra de lo sostenido al momento acerca de que en legislaturas multipartidarias los intentos de insistencia son más factibles bajo gobierno dividido, este trabajo encuentra que son más factibles cuando el gobierno cuenta con al menos una pluralidad en una de las cámaras. Además del análisis cuantitativo, presentamos estudios de casos para ilustrar los argumentos desarrollados en el artículo

On the Institutionalization of Congress(es) in Latin America and Beyond

This paper proposes an agenda for the study of the determinants and the processes by which strong policymaking institutions emerge, with emphasis on the most central democratic institution: the legislature. It reviews extant theories of institutionalization, and proposes further ways of specifying and studying the concept. It emphasizes the notion that investments and beliefs are the driving force of Congress institutionalization and of its relevance in the policymaking process. Making use of several indicators of Congress institutionalization, it provides evidence suggesting that Congress institutionalization has an impact on the qualities of public policies and on economic and social development outcomes. It also explores some "constitutional" factors that may promote Congress institutionalization. Given that a central theoretical argument of this paper is that the institutionalization of legislatures is a process that includes various self-reinforcing dynamics, the paper also undertakes the preliminary steps in developing a comparative case study of the evolution of Congress institutionalization in two Latin American countries: Argentina and Chile.

Increased vulnerability to psychosocial stress in heterozygous serotonin transporter knockout mice

Epidemiological evidence links exposure to stressful life events with increased risk for mental illness. However, there is significant individual variability in vulnerability to environmental risk factors, and genetic variation is thought to play a major role in determining who will become ill. Several studies have shown, for example, that individuals carrying the S (short) allele of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) have an increased risk for major depression following exposure to stress in adulthood. Identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying this gene-by-environment risk factor could help our understanding of the individual differences in resilience to stress. Here, we present a mouse model of the 5-HTT-by-stress risk factor. Wild-type and heterozygous 5-HTT knockout male mice were subjected to three weeks of chronic psychosocial stress. The 5-HTT genotype did not affect the physiological consequences of stress as measured by changes in body temperature, body weight gain and plasma corticosterone. However, when compared with wild-type littermates, heterozygous 5-HTT knockout mice experiencing high levels of stressful life events showed significantly depressed locomotor activity and increased social avoidance toward an unfamiliar male in a novel environment. Heterozygous 5-HTT knockout mice exposed to high stress also showed significantly lower levels of serotonin turnover than wild-type littermates, selectively in the frontal cortex, which is a structure that is known to control fear and avoidance responses, and that is implicated in susceptibility to depression. These data may serve as a useful animal model for better understanding the increased vulnerability to stress reported in individuals carrying the 5-HTTLPR S allele, and suggest that social avoidance represents a behavioral endophenotype of the interaction between 5-HTT and stress

Spreading Influence Through Weak Ties: Cosponsorship, Legislative Networks, and Bill Success in Fragmented Congresses

Literature on legislative success tends to focus on independent variables of which lawmakers have scarce control. This article analyzes instead how legislators’ strategies affect their success in Congress. I posit that while weak ties between congresspeople are the most useful in increasing success in the chamber of origin under majoritarian settings, they do not raise the likelihood of bill approval in the second chamber or in plurality-led legislatures. Building on a data set that contains all bills proposed to the Argentine Congress between 1983 and 2007, results support these context-dependence hypotheses. I then use data from the Uruguayan Congress (1995–2010) to explore how the argument plays out in a Latin American legislature with weaker gatekeeping rules (i.e., an “open sky” legislature). Findings help gain insight into the strategies used in environments different from that of the widely studied U.S. Congress.Fil: Skigin, Natán. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Departamento de Ciencia Política y Estudios Internacionales; Argentina. University of Notre Dame; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin