| Subject: NGOs, maqiladoras, presidentialism, parliamentary sovereignity |
Author:
Kristen Landino
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Date Posted: 19:14:43 05/19/02 Sun
In reply to:
Dylan
's message, "ID Stuff" on 08:09:51 05/11/02 Sat
Parliamentary sovereignty – the sole right of the parliament to draft legislation for the nation. Parliamentary sovereignity is important to establish, especially in a presidential system of government, because it promotes the balance of powers. In countries where hyper-presidentialism is a problem, parliamentary sovereignity is often not respected and presidents issue laws by decree. Parliamentary sovereignity has been a problem during the 1990s in Argentina under Menem and Peru under Fujimori.
Presidentialism – a system of government wherein the head of state (President) is directly elected by the people. An advantage of Presidentialism is that it allows for a balance of powers; however, one problem is that it is essentially a zero-sum game. Presidentialism can lead to problems in countries with significant cleavages along ethnic, racial, or economic lines because the winner takes all system can give an undue amount of power to the majority group. Presidentialism is relavent to Latin America because emerging democracies in this region often adopt this system of government. Hyper-presidentialism, marked by excessive control of the government by the president through the issuance of decrees, is especially a problem this region.
Maquiladoras – are factories established by foreign (mostly US-based) companies that are located just over the US border in Mexico. Usually assembly plants for large manufacturing corporations, these factories often provide poor wages and substandard working conditions. Companies find it advantageous to operate maquiladoras rather than comparable factories in the US because labor and taxes are cheap in Mexico. US tarriffs are also favorable because of NAFTA. Maquiladoras are important because they illustrate some of the consequences of Mexico’s insertion into the global economy.
NGOs(Non-governmental organizations) – an NGO is a non-profit making, voluntary citizens’ group that operates independent of government and of politically partisan bodies and forms part of civil society. These organizations can operate on a local, national, or international level. NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions, bring citizens' concerns to Governments, monitor policies and encourage political participation at the community level. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms, and help monitor and implement international agreements. Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, the environment or health. NGOs are important because these groups can have a significant impact on policy planning in a nation. For example, in Rwanda NGOs were instrumental in pushing for the establishment of a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses during the country’s two year civil war.
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