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Secularism in Latin America?
Title
Secularism in Latin America?: looking at the effects of social welfare and leftist parties on religiosity.
Creator
Pena, Alan Manuel., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
Researchers sometimes classify religious organizations as rational actors, arguing that religious organizations attempt to minimize costs and maximize membership. Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde use the rational actor model to explain organized religion's diminished competitiveness and the correlated increase in secularity against governments with high social welfare programs. They conclude that government welfare programs contribute to increased secularity. Survey data indicates that Chile...
Show moreResearchers sometimes classify religious organizations as rational actors, arguing that religious organizations attempt to minimize costs and maximize membership. Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde use the rational actor model to explain organized religion's diminished competitiveness and the correlated increase in secularity against governments with high social welfare programs. They conclude that government welfare programs contribute to increased secularity. Survey data indicates that Chile, Cuba, and Uruguay have significantly higher proportions of secularity relative to the rest of the region. This thesis tests the hypothesis that increased secularity in Chile, Cuba, and Uruguay is caused not only by Gill and Lundsgaarde's social welfare hypothesis, but also by the historical presence of far left parties in these nations. The ideologies of longstanding far left parties are often anti-religious and may contribute to increased secularity, suggesting that leftist parties may be a predictor of increased secularity in a country. Welfare, as times passes, becomes a stronger predictor of decreased religious behavior.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77682
Subject Headings
Religion and politics, Church and state, History, Political parties
Format
Document (PDF)
role of church-state conflict in the growth of religious pluralism in Latin America
Title
The role of church-state conflict in the growth of religious pluralism in Latin America.
Creator
McMillan, Michael., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
Since the 1960s Latin America has experienced a religious transformation, with several countries developing significant Protestant populations. These religious changes have influenced the political processes of several Latin American nations, playing a prominent role in elections and the formation of political platforms. Several theories attempt to account for the recent growth in religious pluralism, particularly social anomie theory and religious market models. These theories ignore or...
Show moreSince the 1960s Latin America has experienced a religious transformation, with several countries developing significant Protestant populations. These religious changes have influenced the political processes of several Latin American nations, playing a prominent role in elections and the formation of political platforms. Several theories attempt to account for the recent growth in religious pluralism, particularly social anomie theory and religious market models. These theories ignore or downplay the role of conflict between the state and civil society, especially violent confrontations between the government and the Roman Catholic Church. This study focuses on four case studies with varying amounts of church-state conflict and differing religious pluralistic growth rates: Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, and Southern Mexico. This study finds that church-state conflict serves as a catalyst, and in some cases a useful predictor, of growth in religious pluralism.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77678
Subject Headings
Religious pluralism, Latin America, Politics and government, Latin America, Church history, Church and state, History
Format
Document (PDF)
Rethinking religious competition
Title
Rethinking religious competition: church-state relations in Catholic- and Islamic- majority authoritarian states.
Creator
Chase, Heather., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
In his book Rendering Unto Caesar, Anthony Gill suggests that in countries with repressive authoritarian governments, religious competition plays a crucial role in determining whether the dominant religious institution will support or oppose the regime. Gill's theory, however, assumes that religious institutions are unitary rational actors. While this assumption may be reasonable in Catholic countries of Latin America where Gill based his theory on the hierarchical National Bishops' Councils,...
Show moreIn his book Rendering Unto Caesar, Anthony Gill suggests that in countries with repressive authoritarian governments, religious competition plays a crucial role in determining whether the dominant religious institution will support or oppose the regime. Gill's theory, however, assumes that religious institutions are unitary rational actors. While this assumption may be reasonable in Catholic countries of Latin America where Gill based his theory on the hierarchical National Bishops' Councils, it is not applicable to Sunni Islamic countries of North Africa because of the decentralized Sunni Islamic religious structure. This finding suggests that although religious actors behave rationally in the religious market to maximize the souls for their religion, not all religious actors necessarily view the same religion and its role in the politics of the society in the same manner: in some cases, intra-religious competition is a larger factor in church-state relations than inter-religious competition.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3334253
Subject Headings
Church and state, History, Islam and state, Religion and politics, Religion and politics
Format
Document (PDF)
Pentecostalism, development and democracy in Latin America
Title
Pentecostalism, development and democracy in Latin America.
Creator
Louis, Pierre A., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
The recent explosive growth of Protestantism in Latin America has led a number of scholars to predict that the region may be on its way to reaching a significantly higher levels of socioeconomic development and democracy. These are important claims for a region that has struggled with both economic development and democratic consolidation. This thesis argues that Protestantism in Latin America does not follow the classical Weberian pattern of development. Because the majority of Protestant...
Show moreThe recent explosive growth of Protestantism in Latin America has led a number of scholars to predict that the region may be on its way to reaching a significantly higher levels of socioeconomic development and democracy. These are important claims for a region that has struggled with both economic development and democratic consolidation. This thesis argues that Protestantism in Latin America does not follow the classical Weberian pattern of development. Because the majority of Protestant growth in the region is Pentecostal, the causal assumptions of the--culture and development school do not hold. Furthermore, a context of neoliberalism, a significant colonial legacy, and wide income disparities continue to hinder the potential for development. Based on a review of secondary sources and specific data from the case of Guatemala, this thesis argues that while individual Protestants may experience some upward social mobility, the growth of Protestantism has done little to advance the socioeconomic and political development of the region.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77674
Subject Headings
Democratization, Neoliberalism, Christianity and politics, Politics and government, Cultural policy
Format
Document (PDF)
miseducation of Hugo Chavez
Title
The miseducation of Hugo Chavez: political learning and populism in Latin America.
Creator
Fertitta, David., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
This project examines the role of political learning in predicting the recent rise of left-of-center governments in Latin America, ranging from moderate center-left coalition governments to one-party populist regimes. Studies of populism consistently point to the role of natural resources and economic crises in predicting the rise of populist regimes. This study adds the concept of political learning by using measures of moderation in the current regime as a dependent variable and measures of...
Show moreThis project examines the role of political learning in predicting the recent rise of left-of-center governments in Latin America, ranging from moderate center-left coalition governments to one-party populist regimes. Studies of populism consistently point to the role of natural resources and economic crises in predicting the rise of populist regimes. This study adds the concept of political learning by using measures of moderation in the current regime as a dependent variable and measures of oppression in earlier regimes as independent variables. Utilizing case studies of Venezuela and Chile as ideal types and plotting ten further cases on indicators of repression, military spending, corporate tax rates, government spending, the percent of votes going to moderates, and economic freedom scores from Freedom House, I argue that the likelihood of the rise of populist regimes is greater in countries that have not experienced the sort of intense political repression that generates political learning.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3335021
Subject Headings
Power (Social sciences), Populism, Politics and government, Politics and government
Format
Document (PDF)
Hot-cold medicine revisited
Title
Hot-cold medicine revisited: another look at the debate over its origin.
Creator
Bourget, Sarah., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
Anthropologists like George Foster have argued over the origin of Latin American hot-cold medicine since the 1950s. Some argue that it originated within the indigenous populations of Latin America while others argue that hot-cold medicine originated from European humoral medicine. In this paper, I take another look at this debate, focusing on how its practice varies from community to community and relating the debate to changes that have occurred in the discipline of anthropology in recent...
Show moreAnthropologists like George Foster have argued over the origin of Latin American hot-cold medicine since the 1950s. Some argue that it originated within the indigenous populations of Latin America while others argue that hot-cold medicine originated from European humoral medicine. In this paper, I take another look at this debate, focusing on how its practice varies from community to community and relating the debate to changes that have occurred in the discipline of anthropology in recent years. I also look at other lines of evidence, such as the linguistics used in association with hot-cold medicine and the nearly universal existence of the hot-cold dichotomy, in order to support the theory that hot-cold medicine originated within the indigenous groups of Latin America.
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Date Issued
2005
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11573
Subject Headings
Traditional medicine, Alternative medicine, Medical anthropology
Format
Document (PDF)
Help or hype?
Title
Help or hype?: the role of Internet marketing in rural development strategies.
Creator
Klaas, Kathryn, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
International development literature suggests that Internet marketing has the potential to play an important role in rural development. Despite the abundant theoretical support for incorporating Internet marketing into development strategies, there is little empirical evidence regarding whether Internet marketing actually generates development. This thesis helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating whether one Internet marketing application associated with development, competitive...
Show moreInternational development literature suggests that Internet marketing has the potential to play an important role in rural development. Despite the abundant theoretical support for incorporating Internet marketing into development strategies, there is little empirical evidence regarding whether Internet marketing actually generates development. This thesis helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating whether one Internet marketing application associated with development, competitive-online auctions (COAs), contributes to growth and poverty reduction. An analysis of price premiums earned in Latin American specialty coffee auctions and interviews with participating coffee farmers suggest that this application's strength lies in its ability to catalyze development; it provides the foundation from which farmers can pursue above-market prices, access new markets, and improve local living conditions. However, evidence also emphasizes that COAs do not inevitably advance development goals because their ability to do so is contingent on external factors, including the actions taken by individual farmers.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209992
Subject Headings
Internet marketing, Small business, Computer network resources, Developmental economics, Rural development, Information technology, Economic aspects
Format
Document (PDF)
Free markets and free governments in Latin America
Title
Free markets and free governments in Latin America.
Creator
Rossknecht, Timothy L., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
Latin America has undergone a "third wave" of democratization and free market economic reforms, known as "neoliberalism." Neoliberalism radically altered what had been statist or corporatist economic systems, under austere programs that mandated deregulation, privatization, currency devaluation, and the elimination of protective tariffs and subsidies. Seventeen Latin American nations were examined in the aggregate, comparing levels of economic reform with measures of political and civil...
Show moreLatin America has undergone a "third wave" of democratization and free market economic reforms, known as "neoliberalism." Neoliberalism radically altered what had been statist or corporatist economic systems, under austere programs that mandated deregulation, privatization, currency devaluation, and the elimination of protective tariffs and subsidies. Seventeen Latin American nations were examined in the aggregate, comparing levels of economic reform with measures of political and civil rights and freedoms, poverty, inequality, and popular support for democratic institutions and practices. The tests were repeated within two in-depth case studies, Argentina and Mexico. In all three cases, neoliberalism was statistically linked with increased political rights and freedom, but failed to improve levels of poverty and inequality, and was shown to be partially responsible for downturns in popular support for democratic institutions (i.e. Parliament) and practices (i.e. labor unions, legal protests).
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Date Issued
2006
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11582
Subject Headings
Neoliberalism, Latin America, Economic conditions, Economic stabilization, Social aspects, Democratization, History
Format
Document (PDF)
Economic growth in Ecuador provided by dollarization
Title
Economic growth in Ecuador provided by dollarization.
Creator
Salcedo-Saltos, Rosanna L., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
In an attempt to reduce runaway inflation, the Ecuadorian government froze citizens' checking and savings accounts for a year in March 1999. Nevertheless, Ecuador still experienced hyperinflation later that year. On January 9, 2000, Ecuador established dollarization as a desperate attempt to restore confidence in the economy. In order to test for dollarization's impact on economic growth, I employ an econometrics model with total factor productivity as the dependent variable. I then use...
Show moreIn an attempt to reduce runaway inflation, the Ecuadorian government froze citizens' checking and savings accounts for a year in March 1999. Nevertheless, Ecuador still experienced hyperinflation later that year. On January 9, 2000, Ecuador established dollarization as a desperate attempt to restore confidence in the economy. In order to test for dollarization's impact on economic growth, I employ an econometrics model with total factor productivity as the dependent variable. I then use dollarization as the independent variable of interest, and other control variables such as oil, and trade. The results reported in this paper suggest that dollarization has a significant positive impact on Ecuador's economic growth.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3335454
Subject Headings
Monetary policy, Currency question, Dollar, American, Economic conditions, Economic conditions
Format
Document (PDF)
consequences of conditioned democracy promotion by the United States in Latin America
Title
The consequences of conditioned democracy promotion by the United States in Latin America.
Creator
Walsh, Kelly., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
Democracy promotion is an important tenet of United States foreign policy. However, U.S. democracy promotion efforts are conditioned by geopolitical concerns, economic goals, and security interests. This thesis analyzes the impact of U.S. foreign policy in Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Evidence from these cases suggests that United States foreign policy has contributed to the growth of unhealthy or pseudo-democracies in Latin America because frequently the policy reinforces the...
Show moreDemocracy promotion is an important tenet of United States foreign policy. However, U.S. democracy promotion efforts are conditioned by geopolitical concerns, economic goals, and security interests. This thesis analyzes the impact of U.S. foreign policy in Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Evidence from these cases suggests that United States foreign policy has contributed to the growth of unhealthy or pseudo-democracies in Latin America because frequently the policy reinforces the political and economic power of entrenched elites or the military. These groups, whose interests more closely align with U.S interests, are often uncommitted to supporting policy that promotes human rights and equitable distribution of wealth and power or that demands universal political liberties. Democracy is promoted rhetorically rather than in practice, and consequently is unresponsive and illegitimate. Future democracy promotion efforts by the United States, if they are to be successful, must overcome this illegitimacy by compensating for the conflicts that conditioned democracy produces.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210005
Subject Headings
Democracy, Democratization, Government policy, Politics and government, Foreign relations, Foreign relations
Format
Document (PDF)