Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 321-331).

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Drawing on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in a poor and notorious neighbourhood, this dissertation examines how evolving dynamics of urban violence have affected life in a Guatemala City gang territory. The maras of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras - the gangs that help give these countries some of the world's highest homicide rates - have changed dramatically in their group cultures and criminal economies since they appeared in the 1990s. I trace what I call the mara's predatory turn: the elaboration of an extortion economy, which has had far-reaching consequences for the relationship between gang cliques and their barrios. This transformation has re-shaped the experience of chronic insecurity in the communities that maras operate from: inhabitants report that it is now less manageable, less predictable, and more frightening. They speak of a heightening of danger in their lives brought about by the decline of certain local norms and mechanisms that had previously moderated gang violence and bolstered community resilience. Local narratives of insecurity and decline illuminate when, how, and why violence disrupts and disorders social life. What many informants emphasized was not a cataclysmic appearance of violence in their lives, but rather a catastrophic breakdown in the mechanisms that had controlled it. In this distressing context, residents struggle to minimize their insecurity and to reclaim or create forms of order. I examine two principal ways that they seek to do so: by working to maintain a moral order based on narratives about the neighbourhood and its values or 'codes', and by looking to external providers of order in the state and its security forces. Exploring the complex relationships and interactions between inhabitants, gang members, and state forces in this barrio, I contribute to academic debates about local and state responses to insecurity in Latin America and propose modifications to prevailing models of state and criminal 'governance' in marginal urban communities.

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In the literature democratic longevity in countries transitioning from authoritarian regimes to democracy is linked to economic development; four factors of economic development are identified: industrialization, education, urbanization, and growing wealth. Education is viewed as a primary factor for effective democratic participation and economic development. This thesis examines the relationship between level of democracy and educational outputs and outcomes. Does the level of democracy (political rights and civil liberties) have an effect on the levels of investment in education and measurable outcomes in education equity toward meeting the educational needs of the newly represented public? The expectation is that the increased scope of political participation and representation in new democratic regimes would result in higher government spending for education with implications for education equity. This study is conducted using a cross-sectional, longitudinal statistical model. The analysis is based on 18 Latin American countries over a thirty-eight-year period, from 1972 to 2010. To examine the connection between level of democracy and education equity, the study explores the effects of democracy on different levels of education, gender, and social class. In addition to the quantitative analysis, a qualitative component aims at contextualizing this relationship that is, examining closer the mechanism that underlies the connection between democracy and education equity in the cases of Mexico and Brazil

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This paper investigates the relationship between inflation uncertainty, the conduct of monetary policy, and the level of economic growth in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. This is accomplished by analyzing regression and nonregression evidence. The regression evidence is drawn from an earlier study by Sebatian Edwards (1983). A replication and reexamination of the tests conducted by Edwards reflect an overall negative relationship between unexpected monetary policy and economic growth for the period between 1963 and 1993. In addition to regression evidence, non-regression evidence confirms the econometric results. The evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that inconsistent macroeconomic policies, such as sizable and chronic budget deficits result in sustained and variable inflation as well as lower economic growth in the long-run. / Master of Arts

This thesis presents a critical evaluation of the Alliance for Progress. Particular emphasis is placed on the main difficulties and failures that the Alliance has had during its first years of existence. However, certain specific advances occurring during this first period of the Alliance deserve mention. Attention is given to the relationships between economic assistance and economic growth, and to the reasons for the failure of the Alliance. The first part of the thesis gives the adequate background for a better understanding of the second part, which makes a severe examination of the accomplishments of the Alliance. / Master of Arts

This investigation is a study of the principles and practices embodied in the Trade Agreements policy inaugurated by the United States in 1934 as it relates to Latin American trade.