Overview
- Presents the findings of an eight-year study, drawing on case studies of intermediation and representation in Bolivia, Mexico, Brazil, Uraguay and Venezuela
- Offers a distinctive approach to filling the research gap in political intermediation by developing a framework, that unpacks different understandings of ‘indirectedness’ as an intrinsic feature of politics
- Formulates, applies and assesses a tridimensional model of political intermediation, represented through the 'cube of political intermediation', and suggests how interdisciplinary approaches can provide ideas for overcoming analytical and methodological challenges
Part of the book series: Studies of the Americas (STAM)
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This book shows how the introduction of intermediation is relevant in studying political and public policy processes, as they are increasingly accompanied by grey spaces in public and non-public arenas that cannot be categorized as purely representative or purely participative. Instead, ‘hybrid’ mechanisms are developing in the policy-making process, which bring in new actors who either are unelected while being required to represent or advocate for the common good of others or are directly elected but challenged by identity/rights-based issues of the people they are required to act in the best interest of. By proposing a conceptual frame on intermediation and addressing five different Latin American countries and a wide range of case studies —from human rights, labour relations, neighbourhood management, municipal bureaucracies, social accountability, to complex national systems of citizen participation—this volume shows the versatility and validity of a tridimensional frame, the “cube of political intermediation” (CPI) as a tool for analysing public policy and understanding contemporary democratic innovation in Latin America.
Reviews
“While a growing body of literature focuses on formal and informal institutions, this is one of the first books to attempt to systematically understand how they are inter-related. Elections are important, but they are hardly the only mechanism through which the interests of different actors are mediated. The volume captures these mechanisms graphically in a ‘cube of political intermediation (CPI)’ and through ‘circuits of political representation,’ providing an original theoretical model for understanding the multidimensional nature of politics.” (Philip Oxhorn, Professor of Political Science, McGill University, Canada)
“This book goes beyond the most frequent focus on institutions of democratic innovation to analyze how 'political intermediation' works within different political settings considering institutions (e.g.councils, committees) as well as social organizations (e.g. human rights and labor organizations) and people (e.g. civil servants). The novelty of this volumelies in the concept of ‘circuits of representation’ and the cube of political intermediation (CPI), an analytical framework applied to the study of a selection of Latin America cases.” (Yanina Welp, Regional Director for LA, C2D - Centre for Research on Direct Democracy)
“This conceptually innovative book offers fresh ideas about Latin American politics and insightful analyses of democratic innovations in the region. The authors enrich our understanding of institutions often explored through the lenses of participation and representation by providing a new cube of political intermediation framework. Armed with this framework, each chapter systematically focuses on different circuits of representation in Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Venezuela, giving readers novel perspectives on unions, community councils, public security, civil society organizations, and public servants dedicated to health, human rights, and women’s rights.” (Benjamin Goldfrank, AssociateProfessor and Chair, Seton Hall University)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Gisela Zaremberg is Research Professor at Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Mexico.
Valeria Guarneros-Meza is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at De Montfort University, UK.
Adrian Gurza-Lavalle is Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Intermediation and Representation in Latin America
Book Subtitle: Actors and Roles Beyond Elections
Editors: Gisela Zaremberg, Valeria Guarneros-Meza, Adrián Gurza Lavalle
Series Title: Studies of the Americas
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51538-0
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-51537-3Published: 17 March 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-84677-4Published: 07 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-51538-0Published: 06 March 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 211
Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour
Topics: Latin American Politics, Democracy, Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights, Comparative Politics, Electoral Politics, Regionalism