A proposta desta dissertação é analisar como os governos de esquerda da América Latina contribuem ou não para a construção, desenvolvimento e consolidação de uma cultura democrática na região. A partir da experiência recente de Brasil e de Venezuela, que representam hoje os dois modelos dominantes da esquerda latino-americana, investiga-se se os resultados sociais obtidos estimulam ou não a confiança dos cidadãos no regime democrático. Para alcançar esse objetivo, verifica-se se houve ou não avanço em educação e saúde nos dois países entre 1990 e 2008. Tal diagnóstico é confrontado com a opinião de brasileiros e venezuelanos sobre a satisfação com a vida cotidiana e com o grau de apoio à democracia no mesmo período. A partir dos dados analisados, pode-se concluir que há avanços, no entanto, as medidas implementadas na área social são insuficientes para se consolidar a dimensão social da democracia e fortalecer substancialmente a cultura democrática. / The proposal of this dissertation is to examine how the governments on the left in Latin America contribute or not contribute to the construction, development and consolidation of a democratic culture in the region. Since the recent experience in Brazil and Venezuela, which now represent the two dominant models of the Latin American left, investigates whether the results obtained social stimulate or no public confidence in the democratic system. To achieve this goal, it is whether there is progress in education and health in both countries between 1990 and 2008. This diagnosis is confronted with the view of Brazilians and Venezuelans on satisfaction with life and the degree of support for democracy in the same period. From the data, it can be concluded that there is progress, however, the measures implemented in the social area are insufficient to strengthen the social dimension of democracy and substantially strengthen the democratic culture.

O presente estudo pretende ser um contributo à reflexão em torno da identidade da universidade latino-americana na contemporaneidade, sua função e responsabilidade social. Problematiza e questiona perspectivas epistemológicas e racionalidades vigentes no meio acadêmico a partir de autores como Boaventura Santos, Pedro Goergen, Almeida Filho e outros. Apresenta o caso da Pluriversidad Amawtay Wasi, instituição indígena situada no Equador, como objeto de estudo empírico a partir do qual faz a reflexão sobre essas perspectivas. A metodologia incluiu uma análise qualitativa do universo das evidências possíveis. Foram elegidas para o estudo as seguintes fontes de dados: documentos, bibliografias, teses, entrevistas online, palestras, sites e notícias de periódicos e revistas. A análise documental privilegiou quatro caminhos discursivos: (1) idéia de pluriversidade e epistemologias do sul; (2) decolonização universitária; (3) interculturalidade; (4) diálogo entre saberes e intercientificidade. Como conclusões, o estudo critica processos avaliativos padronizadores que não reconhecem universidades emergentes; questiona a monocultura do saber científico produzido nas instituições de educação superior; propõe a criação de espaços plurais de construção de conhecimento, desde uma perspectiva intercultural e descolonizada, como alternativa para superar a conjuntura de crises vivenciada pela universidade. A partir do caso Amawtay Wasi procura visibilizar a luta dos movimentos e comunidades indígenas por uma educação superior própria, que tenha como ponto de partida os conhecimentos, os valores, a cultura e a cosmovisão dos povos ancestrais da América Latina, caminhos também possíveis a serem trilhados por outras instituições de educação superior na busca de conhecimentos plurais, tanto mais efetivos para a sociedade quanto mais humanizados e impregnados de “buen vivir”. / This study intends to contribute to the debate on the contemporary identity, the social responsibility and mission of the Latin American university. This work problematizes and questions current rationalities and epistemological perspectives in academia, based upon authors such as Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Pedro Goergen and Naomar de Almeida Filho. It presents the case of Pluriversidad Amawtay Wasi, an indigenous institution from Ecuador, as an empirical study from which to discuss university perspectives. The methodology included qualitative analysis of the universe of available evidence. The following data sources were selected for the study: documents, bibliographies, dissertations, online interviews, lectures, websites and news from journals and magazines. The documental analysis highlighted four discursive paths: (1) idea of pluriversity and Southern epistemologies; (2) university decolonization; (3) interculturality; (4) dialogue among knowledges and interscientificity. In conclusion, the study criticizes the standardizing evaluative processes that do not recognize the emerging universities; questions the monoculture of scientific knowledge produced at institutions of higher education; proposes the creation of plural spaces of knowledge construction from an intercultural and decolonized perspective, as an alternative to overcome the context of crisis experienced by university. From the case of Amawtay Wasi, this study seeks to evidence the indigenous communities and movements’ struggle for their own higher education, taking as its starting point Latin American ancestral peoples’ knowledges, values, culture and cosmovision. These paths can also be taken by other higher education institutions in search for plural knowledges, the more effective for society the more humanized and impregnated by “buen vivir” they are.

Background: Patient-initiated partner notification (PN) following the diagnosis of a sexually transmitted infection is a critical component of disease control in men who have sex with men (MSM) sexual networks. Both printed and internet-based technologies offer potential tools to enhance traditional partner notification approaches among MSM in resource-limited settings. Objective: This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effect of 2 different PN technologies on notification outcomes following syphilis diagnosis among MSM in Peru: A Web-based notification system and patient-delivered partner referral cards. Methods: During 2012-2014, we screened 1625 MSM from Lima, Peru, for syphilis infection and enrolled 370 MSM with symptomatic primary or secondary syphilis (n=58) or asymptomatic latent syphilis diagnosed by serology (rapid plasma reagin, RPR, and Microhemagglutination assay for Treponema pallidum antibody; n=312). Prior to enrollment, potential participants used a computer-based self-interviewing system to enumerate their recent sexual partnerships and provide details of their 3 most recent partners. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to one of 4 intervention arms: (1) counseling and patient-initiated Web-based PN (n=95), (2) counseling with Web-based partner notification and partner referral cards (n=84), (3) counseling and partner referral cards (n=97), and (4) simple partner notification counseling (control; n=94). Self-reported partner notification was assessed after 14 days among 354 participants who returned for the follow-up assessment. Results: The median age of enrolled participants was 27 (interquartile range, IQR 23-34) years, with a median of 2 partners (IQR 1-5) reported in the past month. Compared with those who received only counseling (arm 4), MSM provided with access to Web-based partner notification (arms 1 and 2) or printed partner referral cards (arms 2 and 3) were more likely to have notified one or more of their sexual partners (odds ratio, OR, 2.18, 95% CI 1.30-3.66; P=.003 and OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.01-2.79; P=.045, respectively). The proportion of partners notified was also higher in both Web-based partner notification (241/421, 57.2%; P<.001) and referral card (240/467, 51.4%; P=.006) arms than in the control arm (82/232, 35.3%). Conclusions: Both new Web-based technologies and traditional printed materials support patient-directed notification and improve self-reported outcomes among MSM with syphilis. Additional research is needed to refine the use of these partner notification tools in specific partnership contexts. / Revisión por pares / Revisión por pares

The dominant theoretical frameworks that define the ontological and epistemological limits of legal theory have marginalized or excluded alternatives visions on justice and social organization. Moreover, and in spite of being deeply embedded in specific political and ideological matrix, these frameworks have attempted to obscure the role of the political in the definition of its conceptual basis. The theoretical perspective that is developed in this article - and that is part of a long tradition of critical theories (in plural) - seeks to reveal the deep relation between Law and Politics and reformulate it analytically in order to propose a broad vision of the legal theory from Latin America. / Los marcos teóricos dominantes que definen los límites ontológicos y epistemológicos de la teoría legal han marginalizado o excluido visiones alternativas sobre la justicia y la organización social. Además, y a pesar de estar profundamente arraigados a una matriz política e ideológica determinada, estos marcos teóricos han pretendido oscurecer el rol de lo político en la definición de su base conceptual. La perspectiva teórica que se desarrolla en el presente artículo, y que es parte de una larga tradición de teorías críticas (en plural), busca revelar la profunda relación entre el Derecho y la Política, y reformularla analíticamente para proponer una visión amplia sobre la teoría legal desde América Latina.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-02T14:28:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JÓRISSA DANILLA NASCIMENTO AGUIAR - TESE (PPGCS) 2017.pdf: 1550993 bytes, checksum: b9089410dc9640f73b6a11d672286b04 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T14:28:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JÓRISSA DANILLA NASCIMENTO AGUIAR - TESE (PPGCS) 2017.pdf: 1550993 bytes, checksum: b9089410dc9640f73b6a11d672286b04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-28 / Capes / A colonização e o pensamento europeu trouxeram aos povos originários não só a marca da dependência financeira e o capitalismo. Foram cruciais, sobretudo, à expansão de uma influência intelectual eurocentrista, um colonialismo cultural que, junto com a propriedade privada, marcaram nossas formações econômico-sociais. Contudo, como a história dos homens precisa ser observada em sua construção dialética, as duas últimas décadas do século XXI e suas mudanças políticas trouxeram à baila novas questões teóricas para se pensar a América Latina contemporânea, onde governos e movimentos sociais formavam uma alternativa política às estruturas de poder vivenciadas desde a terceira onda democrática em meados da década de 1980, buscando recuperar uma aproximação entre sociedade e Estado. Na esteira dessa reflexão, esta tese tem como principal objetivo analisar criticamente, desde uma perspectiva marxista, o movimento decolonial na América Latina. Trata-se de um projeto teórico-político de intelectuais latino-americanos que surge contemporaneamente com o argumento de resistência ao ocidental-centrismo e consequente renovação crítica das Ciências Sociais no subcontinente. Para tanto, buscamos investigar como duas teorias que são chaves para pensar a constituição do nosso objeto, o movimento decolonial, se expandem na academia, são elas a teoria pós-colonial e o estudo dos sujeitos subalternos, assim como a forma com que essas teorias são recebidas no subcontinente, ganhando força a partir da década de 1990, sendo marcante o lançamento da obra Colonialidad y modernidad-racionalidad, de 1992, do peruano Aníbal Quijano (1928). Tendo como eixo teórico-metodológico a recuperação de parte do conjunto da obra político historiográfica de Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) e J. C. Mariátegui (1894-1930), tendo em vista que esses autores realizam interpretações sobre a questão nacional e desenvolvimento desigual a partir das contribuições da metodologia dialética marxista que fomentam suas formulações teóricas, nossa hipótese indica que conceitos e teorias recuperados pela corrente de autores decoloniais e já postulados anteriormente pelos autores aqui destacados – a subalternidade e socialismo indoamericano – não necessariamente se vinculam de maneira rigorosa àquilo que Gramsci e Mariátegui haviam pensado para tais conceitos, apresentando fundamentalmente conclusões políticas distintas. Recuperamos, para testar a hipótese, os pressupostos teóricos dos autores decoloniais sobre o tema e assim lançamos como hipótese secundária a possibilidade da teoria marxista tratar de temas que atingem a América Latina, não sendo necessário o rompimento com o marxismo revolucionário para se concretizar avanços na teoria social e política latino-americana. Foi possível verificar que os autores decoloniais não são unanimes quanto a essa rotura, assim, podemos comparar essa divisão à questão do essencialismo latino-americano, uma das faces que caracterizou o debate marxista no subcontinente na década de 1930, principalmente por tratar da fragmentação política que propõe uma classificação social baseada na questão das raças como a luta e não como parte da luta de classes. Por fim, concluímos que Gramsci e Mariátegui, marxistas com visões não hegemônicas do marxismo, aproximaram a concepção tradicional da política marxista dos subalternos, estimulando uma profunda associação entre saber intelectual e vontade popular, indicando elementos que contemporaneamente são apresentados pela esquerda decolonial. / Colonization and European thought brought to the original people not only the mark of financial dependence and capitalism. They were crucial, above all, to the expansion of a Eurocentric intellectual influence, a cultural colonialism that, together with private property, marked our economic and social formation. However, as the history of men needs to be observed in their dialectical construction, the last two decades of the twenty-first century and its political changes have brought to the fore new theoretical questions to think about contemporary Latin America, where governments and social movements formed a political alternative to Structures of power experienced since the third democratic wave in the mid-1980s, seeking to recover an approximation between society and state. In the wake of this reflection, this thesis aims to critically analyze, from a marxist perspective, the decolonial movement in Latin America. It is a theoretical-political project of Latin American intellectuals that arises simultaneously with the argument of resistance to the western-centrism and consequent critical renovation of the Social Sciences in the subcontinent. Therefore, we sought to investigate how two theories that are key to think the constitution of our objectthe decolonial movement, expand in the academy, are postcolonial theory and the study of the subaltern subject, as well as the way in which these theories Are received in the subcontinent, gaining strength from the 1990s onwards, with the launch of Coloniality and modernity-rationality (1992) by Peruvian Aníbal Quijano (1928). Having as a theoretical-methodological axis the recovery of part of the set of the historiographical political work of Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) and J. C. Mariátegui (1894-1930), considering that these authors make interpretations on the national question and uneven development from the contributions of the Marxist dialectical methodology that foment their theoretical formulations, our hypothesis indicates that concepts and theories recovered by the current of decoloniais authors and already postulated previously by the authors here highlighted - Indo-American subalternity and socialism - do not necessarily strictly bind themselves to what Gramsci and Mariátegui had intended for such concepts, presenting fundamentally different political conclusions. We Recovered, to test the hypothesis, the theoretical assumptions of decolonial authors on the subject and thus launched as secondary hypothesis the possibility of Marxist theory address issues that affect Latin America, the break with revolutionary Marxism is not necessary to achieve advances in Social and political theory in Latin America. It was possible to verify that the decolonial authors are not unanimous about this rupture, so we can compare this division to the question of Latin American essentialism, one of the faces that characterized the Marxist debate in the subcontinent in the 1930s, mainly because it deals with political fragmentation which proposes a social classification based on the question of races like the fight and not as part of the class struggle. Finally, we conclude that Gramsci and Mariátegui, Marxists with non-hegemonic visions of Marxism, approached the traditional conception of Marxist politics of subalterns, stimulating a deep association between intellectual knowledge and popular will, indicating elements that are contemporaneously presented by the decolonial left.

Within the Political Budget Cycle theory (PBC), it is well known that reelection-seeking incumbents have incentives to manipulate economic outcomes through fiscal policy. However, there is no research to asses the conditions under which manipulating taxes and spending effectively serve those interests of political survival. In our first chapter, we argue that the incentives to do so will depend on the extent to which output can be effectively affected in the short-run. Our theory suggests that politicians follow such strategy with different degrees of information, and shows why some incumbent presidents have been more successful in manipulating the fiscal policy than others using a sample of 13 Latin American countries between 1980 and 2005. Our second chapter estimates the macroeconomic effects of exogenous fiscal policy shocks with a three variable Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model. Our sample country is Costa Rica, for which there is no literature on the topic. Using quarterly data from 1991 until 2009, we found a negative and small impact of fiscal policy on output, while a small positive of revenue. Based on these results, we decided to test the existence of an indirect tool the incumbent may still have through the regulated price industries. Our theory suggests that a regulator-agency will choose the price which maximizes the political support for the incumbent government-regulator. We provide evidence with monthly data from 1986 until 2014, from a wider regulated market: Costa Rica. We also provide insights on the effect of elections on gasoline prices (as a proxy for regulated markets) for a a panel of ten Latin American countries of annual data from 2001-2012. And we contribute to the literature by proposing a non parametric approach describing the relationship between prices in regulated markets and election timing.

This essay aim to set new hypothesis for Latin American’s development problem; the analysis is focused from “the encounter of two worlds” to the present. The generaland main hypothesis is a sort of “clutched” between the “Pre-Columbian System” and the “European System” and resulted in a so-called “Colonial System”. This “Colonial System” is defined as juxtaposition of systems and it has been suffering Western influence like a kind of “external shock” but keeping to an already hybrid system, wherein an inertial dynamic and not a dialectic one has been the main trait. The whole historical process is explained under such a point of view. / Este ensayo apunta a establecer nuevas hipótesis sobre el problema del desarrollo latinoamericano; el análisis está enfocado desde el encuentro de dos mundos hasta el presente. La principal y general hipótesis es el acoplamiento del sistema precolombino con el sistema europeo, que conformó el llamado sistema colonial. Este sistema colonial está definido como la yuxtaposición de sistemas, el mismo que ha recibido la influencia occidental como una suerte de shock externo, pero manteniendo un sistema híbrido en donde la dinámica inercial ha sido su rasgo principal y no una dinámica dialéctica. El complejo proceso histórico es explicado desde este punto de vista.

A la fin de la Guerre froide, la promotion de la démocratie s’est consolidée en tant que thème au-delà des frontières nationales, ce qui impliqua de revoir les paradigmes traditionnels des relations internationales et engendra de profondes controverses. Le contenu de ce que l’on nomme démocratie est ainsi formé de positionnements idéologiques différents, voire parfois opposés, entre les acteurs internationaux. Dans la société internationale, la conception spécifique de démocratie libérale représentative prévaut néanmoins en tant que produit politique occidental. En Amérique latine, un locus construit sur la base de paramètres politiques représentés par des catégories qui ne lui sont pas nécessairement propres. Cette discussion prend ainsi des contours très particuliers du fait de la construction historique de la région et de la superposition des accords et arrangements multilatéraux régionaux. Ces arrangements – OEA, Mercosur, Unasur, SICA, CAN et ALBA – créèrent, tout au long des années 90, des cadres normatifs qui traitent du régime politique de leurs États membres. L’Amérique latine possède ainsi un ensemble très dense de directives établi par l’adoption de normes concrètes qui mettent en œuvre cet impératif lorsque des crises politiques surviennent dans des pays de cette région. Le contenu de ce corps normatif varie selon l’arrangement analysé, le type de crise auquel il faut faire face et le gouvernement qui fait l’objet des mesures proposées. La complexité de la scène politique régionale se reflète ainsi dans le phénomène de promotion de la démocratie. / With the end of the Cold War, the promotion of democracy has established itself as a theme beyond national boundaries, implying a review of traditional paradigms of international relations and leading to deep controversy. This is a consequence of the fact that the content of what is named as democracy is filled from ideological positions that differ, sometimes vastly, among international actors. Nevertheless, it still prevails in international society a specific conception of democracy, namely, the representative liberal, product of Western political development. In Latin America, locus that is built having as political parameters categories that were necessarily created locally, this discussion gets very specific contours due to both the historical construction of the region and to the existence of overlapping regional multilateral arrangements. These arrangements - OAS, Mercosur, Unasur, SICA, CAN and ALBA - created, throughout the 1990s, regulatory frameworks to deal with the political system of its member states. As a result, Latin America has a dense set of guidelines established with the adoption of general rules, which relate to the need to maintain democratic regimes, and specific rules, that operationalize this imperative when political crises hit the region. The content of this regulatory framework varies depending on the arrangement analyzed, the crisis type and the government object to the measures proposed, reflecting, in the phenomenon of promotion of democracy, the complexity of the regional political scene.

O desempenho econômico da região América Latina e Caribe tem se caracterizado pelo baixo crescimento da renda per capita nas últimas décadas e pela elevada volatilidade, afastando-se da convergência de renda em relação aos países mais desenvolvidos. Abordagens teóricas e empíricas desenvolvimentistas evidenciam a incapacidade da região em transformar suas estruturas produtiva e exportadora para setores e produtos mais dinâmicos no mercado internacional e de maior sofisticação tecnológica adaptadas às especificidades da região. A especialização externa da América Latina e do Caribe caracteriza-se pelo processo de “primarização”, pela perda de participação no comércio mundial e pelo baixo valor agregado, conteúdo tecnológico, qualidade e enraizamento interno de suas exportações, interferindo no desenvolvimento de capacidades e no aproveitamento de suas potencialidades para gerar maiores salários, ocupação e renda, induzidas pelo comércio exterior. Em uma perspectiva de dinâmica produtiva das cadeias do agronegócio em integrar diversos setores e agentes e no elevado potencial de diversificar e sofisticar a estrutura exportadora da região com base nesses produtos, o estudo tem por objetivo investigar a evolução da estrutura exportadora quanto ao desempenho e o nível de sofisticação das cestas de produtos do agronegócio para os países latino-americanos e caribenhos e os efeitos multiplicadores sobre o crescimento futuro da região e na geração de renda agrícola, produto e ocupação, ao longo do período 1992 a 2009. Os procedimentos metodológicos para a consecução dos objetivos conjugam a técnica retrospectiva temporal de pesquisa bibliográfica, para investigar as relações pertinentes ao nexo de causalidade dos fenômenos sobre as características e limitações dos países da região em transformar e diversificar a sua pauta exportadora, e o método quantitativo, através de técnicas estatísticas, para o cálculo do índice de produtividade implícita dos produtos do agronegócio e da sofisticação revelada das exportações dos produtos do agronegócio junto aos países da região, índices utilizados por Hausmann, Rodrik e Hwang (2005), e a estimação do efeito multiplicador da sofisticação da cesta de exportação para o crescimento econômico e de bem-estar dos países, por meio de análise de regressão múltipla. Em posse dos resultados e das análises de investigação, é possível afirmar: a renda per capita dos países associa-se à sofisticação de suas cestas de exportação dos produtos do agronegócio; a variação no PIB per capita dos países da região é determinada, em um grau elevado, pela sua estrutura inicial de sofisticação das exportações; os países que têm conseguido modificar suas estruturas ao longo do tempo, especializando-se em produtos associados ao maior nível de renda (maior produtividade implícita), têm conseguido maior efeito multiplicador à renda agrícola, produto e ocupação, porém, este está condicionado ao enraizamento interno da atividade produtiva e ao grau de diversificação das exportações. Portanto, os resultados obtidos confirmam a hipótese de que, quanto mais sofisticada a pauta de exportação dos produtos do agronegócio e quanto maior sua integração entre os setores e agentes econômicos e às suas potencialidades internas, maiores serão os efeitos de crescimento da renda e do efeito multiplicador (transbordamentos) sobre a economia dos países da América Latina e do Caribe. Contudo, ceteris páribus, exportar produtos do agronegócio associados implicitamente ao maior nível de renda e com maior grau de enraizamento às suas capacidades internas constitui-se em uma importante estratégia de crescimento acelerado com base nas exportações e de obtenção de maiores níveis de bem-estar para a região. / The Latin America and Caribbean region economic performance has characterized by the low per capita income in the last decades and by its high volatility, going away from income convergence in relation to more developed countries. Theoretical and empirical developmental approaches highlight the region’s failure to transform its productive and exporting structures to more dynamic products and sectors in the international market and, with more technological sophistication adapted to the region’s specificities. The external expertise of Latin America and the Caribbean is defined by the process of “primarization”, loss of share in worldwide commerce and by the low value-added, technological content, quality and internal rooting of its exportations which interfere in the development of capabilities and in using its potential to generate higher wages, occupation and income induced by external trade.Under a perspective of productive dynamics of agribusiness chains to integrate different sectors and actors and, the high potential to diversify and refine the regions exporting structure based on these products, this study aims at investigating the exporting structure evolution considering performance and refinement level of agribusiness product sets to Latin American and Caribbean countries. It also aims to research the multiplier effect on the region future growth and the production of agricultural income, product and occupation from 1992 to 2009. The methodological procedures to achieve the goals combine bibliographical temporal retrospective research technique to investigate relationship of causality phenomena on the characteristics and limitations of the countries from this specific region to transform and diversify its export basket and; a quantitative method through the use of statistic techniques to calculate the productivity index of agribusiness products and the revealed sophistication of this products at the considered countries. The same indexes were used byHausmann, Rodrikand Hwang (2005). Using multiple regressions, we also estimated the sophistication multiplier effect in the exporting set to economic growth and the countries well-fare. From the findings it is possible to say that: countries per capita income is related to the sophistication of agribusiness exporting product set; per capita GDP variation in these countries is determined, in some level, by its initial sophistication structure in exporting;The countries have been able to modify their structures along the time, specializing in products that are associated to higher income level (greater implicit production), they are achieving a greater multiplier effect to agricultural income, product and occupation but it is conditioned to internal rooting of productive activity and to the level of diversification in exports.Therefore, our findings support the hypothesis that the more sophisticated the agribusiness export products set and, the higher the integration between economic sectors and actors and its internal potentialities, the greater will be the effects in income growth and multiplier effect (overflow) on the economy of Latin America and Caribbean countries. Nevertheless, ceteris paribus, to export agribusiness products implicitly associated to a higher income level and a greater level of rooting of its internal capabilities constitutes an important strategy of accelerated growth based on exportation and in getting better well-fare levels to the region.

This thesis consists of four self-contained articles which focus on different aspects of citizens' demand for and governments' supply of social policy in Latin American democracies. The underlying questions that link the four papers are a) do social and economic grievances affect citizens' propensity to protest? and, b) do democratic governments in the region use social policy as an instrument to mitigate social discontent and violent crime? In the first two papers, I use public opinion data in order to examine the determinants of citizens' participation in protest with a special focus on dissatisfaction with the quality of public services, demands for inequality-reduction policies and economic deprivation. The results show that among other factors, protest participation is motivated by citizens' discontent over the quality of basic social services, support for redistributive policies, and relative economic deprivation. The third and fourth papers analyze the "supply side" of social spending in the region focusing on collective protest and violent crime, respectively. The third article argues that under democracy, organized labor is in a better position relative to other groups in society to obtain social policy concessions as a consequence of their collective action efforts. The results show that whereas social security spending increases as a consequence of labor militancy, cutbacks in human capital spending are less likely as peaceful large-scale demonstrations increase. The fourth paper argues that political leaders use education spending as an instrument to mitigate violent crime. It also argues that the effect of violent crime on education spending is larger when leftist governments are in power. The empirical analysis provides support for these arguments.