MERCOSUR Parliament: Institutional weakness and political stalemate. Analysis six years after its formation (original) (raw)
Related papers
At what point does a legislature become institutionalized? The Mercosur Parliament's path
Brazilian Political Science Review, 2009
The Mercosur Parliament was created in 2005 to represent the peoples of the region. The constitutive documents affirm the necessity of reinforcing and deepening integration and democracy within Mercosur through an efficient and balanced institutional structure. In order to examine the potential role of the Parliament in strengthening the institutional framework of the bloc, this paper aims to analyze its first years of activities. What is the institutionalization degree reached by the assembly so far? The research is grounded on the idea that the more institutionalized the legislature is, the more it will influence the political system. The article carries a comparative approach that considers the earliest steps of the European Parliament. In terms of methodology, the qualitative analysis is based on documental research and on some direct observations of Mercosur Parliament’s meetings. The main conclusions are related to the restricted level of institutionalization of this new assembly, in spite of its innovative features regarding the Mercosur structure, and to its proximity with the initial period of the European Parliament.
Modernization Without Change: Decision-Making Process in the Mercosur Parliament
This article analyzes the role of Mercosur's Parliament within Mercosur's institutional design and decision-making process by associating its institutional arrangements to potential outcomes over representativeness. Generally, it discusses how representative Mercosur's chosen mechanism for ruling seats in its Parliament, the so-called " citizen representation " , is and how that might affect coordination trends and solutions concerning political conflicts. Hence, the article investigates such mechanism in terms of its consequences for representativeness. The method relies on a Game Theoretical perspective through the application of the Banzhaf Index, which seeks to precisely measure the power of each player as their capacity to influence decisions. The article shows that, although the criteria used by the " citizen representation " is more representative than the previously used mechanism (in which all of Mercosur's member-states had the same number of seats) in terms of the actual population within Mercosur, not all the changes brought by the mechanism are an advance when it comes to democratic participation. Brazil will be the most powerful in influencing the final decision once the mechanism is fully implemented; Argentina, in turn, will have the same amount of power in influencing the final outcome than will have Venezuela even though its population is 30% larger than the latter.
Chatham House Mercosur Study Group POLITICAL CO-OPERATION IN MERCOSUR
In this presentation I shall first try to clarify the strategic significance of Mercosur as it emerges in three different moments with three different political motivations. Then, the separate paths followed by the political and economic dimensions of Mercosur integration shall be shown as a specific feature of the bloc. The next topic concerns the continuing need for the Mercosur countries to co-operate towards the political stability and economic soundness of the region in order to ensure external credibility and grant a growing flow of external investments. Then I shall turn to examine a set of issues that could possibly be included in an enlarged Mercosur agenda. To conclude, the question is posed as to why a fresh political agenda is needed at all. Three independent converging trends Every complex political processes, especially so in International Relations, can be traced to multiple origins and comprise differing explanations. Mercosur is not an exception. If we assume, as a ...
Mercosur Turns 15: Between Rising Rhetoric and Declining Achievement
Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2005
Founded in 1991 as an intergovernmental association among four member countries, MERCOSUR is likely to begin 2006 as intergovernmental and with the same members as when it was founded. Political rhetoric notwithstanding, there has been little deepening and no enlargement in almost fifteen years. There have been some achievements, however: increased regional interdependence and political cooperation. This article assesses how much MERCOSUR has achieved in light of its starting point and the explicit goals set by regional decision-makers. It then makes a critical appraisal of the distance between political rhetoric and effective policy implementation, focusing on the role played by the two largest members, Argentina and Brazil. Finally, the article examines the current enlargement, deepening and institutionalization agenda and assesses its feasibility.
[Introduction]. In the last ten years Mercosur has become a viable instrument for the creation of a South American pole of economic development and integration as well as to enhance regional power in face of inter-regional and global negotiations. For many Europeans, Mercosur (1) is a child of the EU process and structures and should closely follow its model of integration; for many North-Americans it is being portrayed as nothing more than a regional political arrangement in order to better negotiate with the United States. They argue that Latin Americans do not have conditions to create a stable integration process. Surprisingly for everyone Mercosur is there and is growing despite all adversities. This essay discusses key aspects that Mercosur shares with the EU and stresses the particularities that once produced and maintain Mercosur as an original regional integration model.
MERCOSUR: What You See Is Not (Always) What You Get
European Law Journal, 2011
Twenty years after its creation MERCOSUR is not a common market yet; its regional parliament has virtually no competence; its first enlargement has been pending ratification for five years. However, MERCOSUR has delivered democratic stability, increased trade flows and international visibility to its members. This article proposes a historical-institutionalist approach to reconcile more and less optimistic appraisals. The historical component suggests that MERCOSUR has evolved according to the evolution of national interests and agendas. The institutional component suggests that the limited and peculiar institutionalisation affects MERCOSUR's functionality and prospects. The article first reviews the historical evolution of MERCOSUR, then concentrates on the current agenda including the accession of Venezuela, the question of the regional parliament and the completion of the customs union, and finally explores the challenges Documentos de Seguridad y Defensa No. 29, Madrid, January 2010 that competing regional blocs pose to MERCOSUR. The conclusion suggests that institutional deepening might take place via parliamentary and judicial developments.