Juan Andrés Moraes

Universidad de la República de Uruguay | UdelaR · Ciencia Política

Despite substantial advances in political participation across Latin America, relevant data from the region reveals an important cross-national and temporal variation in voter turnout. Unlike existing region-specific explanations of voter turnout, but in line with research on advanced democracies, we show here that actual electoral mobilization in...

What explains political polarization across developing democracies? In contrast to extant studies, this article develops a novel argument that links electoral (in)stability at the party system level with varying levels of polarization. Specifically, we claim that increasing levels of electoral volatility generate high levels of uncertainty among pa...

What explains political polarization across developing democracies? In contrast to extant studies, this article develops a novel argument that links electoral (in)stability at the party system level with varying levels of polarization. Specifically, we claim that increasing levels of electoral volatility generate high levels of uncertainty among pa...

Why have moderate electorates elected and reelected leftist governments in Latin America over the last twenty years? Scholars who rely on the classic Downsian logic of the median voter theorem have observed a process of ideological moderation among the most salient left-wing parties in the region. However, there have been no systematic attempts to...

What is the role of the Judiciary in Uruguayan politics? Like most Latin American countries, social science research among domestic scholars has been mainly focused on political institutions and public policies. Yet, recent political developments have challenged this focus, as judicial institutions have become more salient in the political process,...

Why have moderate electorates elected and reelected leftist governments in Latin America over the last twenty years? Scholars who rely on the classical Downsian logic of the median voter theorem have predicted and observed a process of ideological moderation among the most salient leftwing parties in the region. However, there are no systematic att...

What explains the birth of a modern democracy? Why a democratic agreement based on rules and procedures can become stable over time? Although these are fundamental questions for the study of democracies, Uruguay still lacks a theoretically guided explanation that accounts for the origin of democracy. This paper explains how and why democracy was es...

Eduardo Alemán and George Tsebelis, eds., Legislative Institutions and Lawmaking in Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Figures, tables, notes, bibliography, index, 296 pp.; hardcover $90, ebook. - Volume 59 Issue 2 - Juan Andrés Moraes

Extant studies have documented a positive correlation between country participation in International Monetary Fund-sponsored programs and collective protests in Latin America. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that there is a great deal of variation in the number of protests in recipient countries across the region. This article provides a theo...

¿Qué explica el triunfo del Frente Amplio en las elecciones nacionales del 2014? Este volumen provee distintas respuestas a esta pregunta dependiendo de la perspectiva de análisis que se adopte.1 En este trabajo nos centraremos en la teoría espacial del voto. Los modelos derivados de este cuerpo teórico permiten explicar algunas características del...

This note refutes some of the arguments published by Adolfo Garcé and Cecilia Rocha's article entitled "Political Science in Uruguay: Between Professionalization, "Partidización" and the Specter of 'Perestroika Movement'" (Vol. 35 (1)). Because it is largely empirically grounded, I do not reject most of the descriptive and analytic side of the pape...

Polarization has been always identified as a problem for Latin American democracies. Yet its determinants remain largely undertheorized and without systematic evidence. This paper tackles this shortcoming with a new explanation where polarization is conceptualized as a mobilizational tool used by parties to deliver unequivocal signals to voters abo...

This article analyzes Uruguayan politics in 2013. The first section shows the country's social and economic context over the last five years emphasizing some specific public policy outputs. The second section focuses on the Executive Power as the main agenda setter acting through the ministerial cabinet and the presidential leadership. The third se...

This article analyzes Uruguayan politics in 2013. The first section shows the country's social and economic context over the last five years emphasizing some specific public policy outputs. The second section focuses on the Executive Power as the main agenda setter acting through the ministerial cabinet and the presidential leadership. The third se...

This article analyzes the Uruguayan political juncture during 2010-2011. To that end, the paper is divided in five sections. Section one reviews the medium term economic context as well as some indicators related to poverty and income distribution. Section two focuses on the new elected government in 2009. In particular, this section describes and...

This article analyzes the Uruguayan political juncture during 2010-2011. To that end, the paper is divided in five sections. Section one reviews the medium term economic context as well as some indicators related to poverty and income distribution. Section two focuses on the new elected government in 2009. In particular, this section describes and...

This article explains the unanticipated emergence of party-oriented legislators and rising party discipline in Brazil since the early 1990s. The authors contend that deputies in Brazil became increasingly party oriented because the utilities of party-programmatic and patronage-based electoral strategies shifted with market reforms that created a pr...

We investigate bill passage between party factions in Uruguay and show they earn policy influence by joining coalition cabinets. The policy advantage of coalition is therefore not collected by the president alone, partners acquire clout in lawmaking. A faction should push legislation alone only if in a majority cabinet or else trade votes, preferab...

We explore the legislative process in search for some of the alleged consequences of cabinet coalitions in a presidential system. Coalition effects should not be expected in the success of executive initiatives: strategic behavior invalidates this intuitive measure of performance. An alternative measure is the time proposals take to navigate the le...

We report preliminary findings from analysis of a database under construction. The paper explores the legislative process in search for some of the alleged consequences of cabinet coalitions in a presidential system. Coalition effects should be less evident in the success of executive initiatives: strategic behavior hampers this intuitive measure o...

Uruguay genera una variedad de resultados políticos. Primero, hay políticas relativamente estables que permiten la apertura comercial y financiera del país. También, hay políticas de baja calidad e inflexibles relacionadas con políticas sociales, algunas áreas de reforma estatal (los salarios de los funcionarios del estado y mecanismos de contratac...

Uruguay generates a variety of policy outcomes. First, there are relatively stable policies, such as those allowing for the commercial and financial openness of the country. Then there are inflexible and low-quality policies, such as those related to social policies, some areas of state reform (civil servants wages and hiring mechanisms), the bankr...

This paper analyzes the reasons behind Central Government (CG) bailouts of Subnational Governments (SNGs) in the case of Uruguay. We argued that Uruguay represents a good example of the risks of fiscal decentralization, in the context of adjustment policies, and when SNGs` responsibilities and resources have not been carefully defined. We show that...

This paper argues for a multi-level explanatory model for understanding institutional reform. The expanding but still modest accumulation in the field tends to clump together different levels of efficient causes. Statements like “reform will be more likely in countries that have swiftly proceeded with macroeconomic reform and stabilization and have...