Power groups, interests and interest groups in consolidated and transitional democracies: comparing Uruguay and Costa Rica with Paraguay and Haiti

Abstract

Drawing on a representative sample of four countries, this article compares two related aspects of interest group activity across Latin America. First, it identifies the elements that determine the level of interest group system development and types of group activity across the region; and second it provides insights into the relationship of the level of institutionalization of a group system to the extent of the consolidation of democracy. The representative sample is composed of Uruguay and Costa Rica in comparison with Paraguay and Haiti. These are four countries with small populations that cover the spectrum of levels of socioeconomic and political development across Latin America, from Uruguay, one of the most developed, to Haiti one of the least developed. The article argues that across a spectrum of group development in Latin America, advanced systems have more or less integrated characteristics, whereas less developed ones manifest a dual or bifurcated group activity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Challenges to mobilising resources for disaster recovery and reconstruction: perspectives of the Haitian diaspora

“…According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, one‐sixth of the capital's population was forced to seek refuge in other provinces (IFRC, ). As noted by Klimovich and Thomas (), the significant impact of the earthquake on the capital led to a massive relief effort that not only brought many NGOs into the country, but also increased the presence of existing NGOs. Several factors exemplify the systemic infrastructural and societal vulnerabilities in Port‐au‐Prince and Haiti as a whole: institutional and governing structures weakened by decades of upheaval and external intervention; large economic disparities between the elite and the poor; a lack of access to healthcare services and educational opportunities outside of the capital; a high level of dependence on foreign aid and remittances from the Haitian diaspora in Canada, France, the United States, and other countries; and repeated disasters accompanied by slow recovery processes (Farmer, ; Schuller and Morales, ; Zanotti, Stephenson, Jr., and McGehee, ).…”

“…Le De et al (2015, p. 654) report that the inflow of remittances to poverty‐stricken countries has increased significantly over the past few years, reaching more than USD 404 billion in 2013. According to Klimovich and Thomas (, p. 191), diaspora remittances from the US and other countries to Haiti were estimated to account for nearly one‐half of Haiti's gross domestic product (GDP).…”

The impact of democracy on interest group system institutionalization

“…According to modernization theory, economic development leads to a conscious and capable middle class which is politically aware and which possesses the means to impact the course of political decisions (Lipset ; Inglehart , ; Inglehart & Welzel ). Klimovich and Thomas () assert the following:

The level of development of the political economy shapes various aspects of social structure including the size and values of the middle class, the level of education, the extent of political efficacy and the extent of membership in groups and organisations. All these factors are underpinnings of a developed, institutionalized political advocacy system.

…”

“…Thomas and Klimovich () use the concepts matured interest group system or institutionalized interest group system. In another piece, these authors use integrated political advocacy system as opposed to bifurcated political advocacy system in order to define the same thing (Klimovich & Thomas ). The five elements proposed by the authors to describe such a system are the following:

1) Members of society view interest group activity as legitimate and an advantageous form of representation, even though they may see the negative side of some group activity.

…”

“…There is also a dearth of studies which analyse variation among countries using interest groups and advocacy either as the dependent or the independent variable (Pijnenburg & Thomas, ; Kanol ). Nevertheless, the number of comparative studies in interest group literature is slowly increasing (McGrath ; Mahoney ; Yadav ; Woll ; Klimovich & Thomas ; Kanol ). Despite this slow trend, however, no large‐N study exists, which attempts to explain interest group system institutionalization across countries.…”