Clear rules that encourage meritocracy, and that include the evaluation of scholarly productivity, are slowly and unevenly taking hold in academic life in Latin America. While some countries have official rankings of political science departments, others rely only on informal assessments. In a third set of countries, we cannot even consider the competition because the market is dominated by a state monopoly. This article provides a first, systematic study of scientific productivity and concomitant impact in more than twenty departments of Political Science and International Relations in the region. I show that scholars’ productivity is intimately related to where they pursued graduate studies, what subfield of research they work on, and the explicit adoption of rules that encourage meritocracy and academic careerism.
Кочеткова Н.Г., кандидат медицинских наук, заведующая лабораторией диагностики и коррекции преждевременного старения областного клинического терапевтического госпиталя для ветеранов войн (Челябинск); тел. 8-351-2328122; E-mail:ngp @ chel. surnet.ru Kochetkova N.G., candidate of Medical Science, Head of the Laboratory of Diagnostics and Correction of Premature Ageing, Regional Clinical Hospital for War Veterans (Chelyabinsk); ph. 8-351-2328122,E-mail: ngp@chel.surnet.ru. Альтман Д.Ш., доктор медицинских наук, профессор, Заслуженный врач Российской Федерации, начальник областного клинического терапевтического госпиталя для ветеранов войн (Челябинск); тел. 8-351-2328151. Altman D.Sh., doctor of Medical Science, Professor, Honoured Doctor of Russian Federation, Head of the Regional Clinical Hospital for War Veterans (Chelyabinsk); ph. 8-351-2328151. Теплова С.Н., доктор медицинских наук, профессор, Заслуженный деятель науки РФ, заведующая кафедрой иммунологии и аллергологии Челябинской государственной медицинской академии (Челябинск); тел. 8-351-2327412. Teplova S.N., doctor of medical sciences, professor, Honored Scientist of Russia,Chelyabinsk State Medical Academy, head of department of the immunology and allergology (Chelyabinsk); ph. 8-351-2327412. Галанова С.Н., кандидат медицинских наук, заведующая отделением физиотерапии областного клинического терапевтического госпиталя для ветеранов войн (Челябинск); тел. 8-351-2328213. Galanova S.N., candidate of Medical Science, Head of the Department of Physiotherapy Regional Clinical Hospital for War Veterans (Chelyabinsk),ph. 8-351-2328213.
This study examines the different ways in which citizens decide directly at the polls on topics of their concern. The direct appeal to the citizenry seems to be increasingly popular in the region and many authors do not see in it more than the use of institutional resources by the authorities to advance a particular political agenda. However, direct democracy is a much more heterogeneous phenomenon than these authors usually grant. In fact, the results of popular votes are generally much tighter than one might assume. Surprisingly, the evidence shows that when used by government agents in Latin America, the rate acceptance does not exceed 55%, even lower than the rate of approval when they are initiated by citizens (56%). This does not mean that, on occasions, authorities use them as exercises of popular mobilization or as tools seeking popular legitimization of the desires of political elites.
During December of 2005 and January of 2006 Chileans chose their new chief executive, Michelle Bachelet, and renewed Congress for period 2006-2009. The elections transpired without disruptions and granted the governing coalition Concertacion de Partidos por la Democracia (CPD) its fourth uninterrupted mandate since transition to democracy in 1990. Given that the constitutional reforms of 2005 eliminated the designated senators, this administration enjoys the most comfortable majority in congress since 1990. Despite it is possible to see the Chilean government immersed in a context of institutional stability and booming prices of Chilean products at the international arena, this scenario couldparadoxically manifest itself in a situation of social stress that might seriously complicate the agenda of President Bachelet and her coalition.
This paper discusses the electoral rules used in Chile since 1833, highlighting how difficult it was to change them after first Adopted. It is then analized the current system, emphasizing its strengths and weaknesses. It is argued that the current system can be best understood as an insurance against an electoral defeat since it imposes high thresholds on a party that seeks to transform its electoral majority into a commanding majority of seats in the legislature. It is shown that the Concertacion has found it difficult to transform its electoral majority into a majority control of the legislature. Using electoral simulations, it is shown that the conservative coalition (given its share of votes) gets a larger share of seats with the current system than with any other alternative district magnitude.
This introduction does not try to be more than a first approach on the state–of–the–art of political science in the continent. It is argued that Latin American political science must build university institutions that emphasize clear rules and defined criteria that stimulate meritocracy as their leit motif. For meritocracy to exist, criteria are necessarily to account for research and teaching productivity. Evidently, the establishment of these criteria is fundamental at the time of the evaluations. Currently, the continent shows enormous variations in the minimally necessary conditions for the institutionalization of the discipline. In some countries not even a degree in political science at undergraduate or graduated can be obtained. In others, less than five doctors in political science are currently working at the university realm. The urgent necessity of professionalization continues being an important subject to consider.
