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Many recent social movements have been characterised by their commitment to direct democratic decision-making procedures and leaderless, non-hierarchic organizational structures. This political tendency also implies the search for autonomy from existing political institutions and practises. Movements seek instead to embody in the political action itself the social relations, ways of collective decision-making and values that are ultimately desired for the whole society. This prefigurative approach to social change is often criticized for being naiive or marginal. This thesis argues first that this is not the case, but that prefigurative politics is misunderstood due to its differing view on questions of strategy, organisation and ultimately the possibility of fundamental societal change. The dissertation first outlines the often implicit strategy or vision of change underpinning prefigurative politics. It then identifies as the key challenge for prefigurative movements their ability to avoid reproducing oppressive forms of power, ‘power-over.’ This understudied aspect is investigated through extensive ethnographic field research with the unemployed workers movement, MTD Lanús in Buenos Aires, and the Zapatista movement in Mexico. The thesis concludes that it seems impossible to completely avoid reproducing old forms of power. Often key individuals in the movements end up in a paradoxical position whereby, in an effort to ensure the group’s prefigurative nature, these individuals enjoy non-prefigurative influence. The findings imply that the state and corresponding political forms and practise are not the only source of hierarchic pressures. As such, it would be more useful to view prefigurative political action as desirable, yet impossible.

This investigation introduces an innovative model for studying the role of small states in regional organisations. It conceptualises small states into region-engaging, region­constraining and region-adapting actors, according to their particular type of engagement in regional politics. This thesis defines Ecuador and Uruguay as region-engaging small states, and argues that elements of a shared collective identity were a major factor of influence on the region-engaging character of Ecuador and Uruguay in the construction of the South American Union of Nations (UNASUR). Theoretically, the study employs a constructivist approach to exploring the reasons why these states have supported the creation and consolidation of UNASUR. It takes a cross case-oriented approach based on the analysis of documents, political speeches and semi-structured interviews, whilst also considering various historical events during the period from 2000 to 2012. Each case study delves into various historical events to provide specific foci on elements of a shared collective identity, left­ oriented ideology, the failure of economic integration projects, the overpowering influence of exterior agents, the need for national and regional peace, as well as the prospect of leading roles and a new type of political cooperation. A significant component of the research concerns the shared factors of a South American identity, whereby comparison facilitates the understanding of the aspects of identity influencing the behaviour of Ecuador and Uruguay in the consolidation of UNASUR.

This thesis explains coalition formation in presidential regimes with evidence from Latin America. The conventional view has been that coalition formation is considerably difficult in presidentialism, and as a result, parties have only exceptionally been expected to form coalitions. However, since the 1990s, the frequency of coalition formation has increased across the region. Most democracies have at some point elected a presidential candidate backed by an electoral coalition, or have been ruled by a president backed by a government coalition. This thesis presents three major findings that contribute to the development of a theory of coalition formation in presidential regimes. First, it shows that simple majority plurality for presidential elections, unicameralism, proportional representation, larger legislatures, smaller average district magnitudes, a higher effective number of electoral parties, and the government party’s legislative majority are crucial predictors of electoral coalition formation. It also shows that when an outsider presidential candidate is present, the likelihood of electoral coalition formation decreases. Second, this thesis shows that weak presidents elected with a low vote share are more likely to form government coalitions. It shows that simple majority plurality for presidential elections, longer presidential terms, unicameralism, smaller legislatures, and fewer legislative parties are crucial predictors of government coalition formation. It also shows that when the incumbent president was backed by an electoral coalition in the immediately previous election, or when the government is going through political turmoil, the probability of forming a government coalition increases. Third, it shows that coalitions may or may not form even when variables related to presidential power, electoral institutions, electoral systems, and party systems are not perfectly aligned. It shows that while presidential power is relevant, electoral arrangements and the party system are what ultimately determine coalition formation. While the former variable is a sufficient condition, the latter variables are both sufficient and necessary conditions. Finally, this thesis shows that political culture and critical junctures play an important role in exacerbating or ameliorating these structural incentives.

L’enjeu de cette thèse est de mettre en lumière les transformations institutionnelles observables en Amérique latine à l’aune de la gestion des politiques d’inclusion digitale. Instaurés par certains pays de la région au milieu des années 2000, ces programmes socio-éducatifs s’inspirent de l’initiative promue par la fondation philanthropique nord-américaine One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Ces politiques publiques ont pour double caractéristique d’être relativement coûteuses en termes financiers et d’être, sur le plan logistique, très contraignantes à administrer. Aussi, selon notre postulat de départ, elles nous permettent non seulement d’illustrer le « retour de l’Etat » en matière d’investissement social, mais encore d’apprécier son efficacité à l’heure de mettre en œuvre des initiatives présentées comme révolutionnaires. D’après notre principale hypothèse, leur concrétisation a été conditionnée par la capacité des pouvoirs publics à innover en matière de gestion administrative. La plus-value académique de ce travail repose sur le concept d’Etat néo-wébérien, lequel se situe à mi-chemin entre le modèle bureaucratique classique et le New Public Management. Nous soutenons que les programmes d’inclusion digitale étudiées (plan Ceibal en Uruguay, plan Conectar Igualdad en Argentine, plan Una Computadora por Niño au Pérou, plan OLPC au Paraguay) ont été couronnés de succès dans les deux pays du Bassin de la Plata (Argentine et Uruguay) qui ont su emprunter le plus aux caractéristiques de cette conception, certes idéal-typique, mais néanmoins éclairante à l’heure d’appréhender la réalité des mutations contemporaines de l’Etat en Amérique latine. / Our ambition is to bring to light the institutional transformations that derive in Latin America from the implementation of digital inclusion policies. These social and educational programs have taken inspiration from the project of the One Laptop Per Child foundation and they have been instituted in some South-American countries during the last decade. We consider that these public policies present two interesting characteristics. On the one hand, being very costly from a financial perspective, they illustrate the “return of the state” in terms of social investment. On the other hand, because they are logistically complex to run, they can be seen as examples of a new and effective policy-making process. Our main hypothesis is that their successful implementation has been triggered by the capacity of public authorities to innovate in the field of administrative management. The academic interest of our dissertation rests on the concept of Neo-weberian State. It designs a new institutional configuration, which borrows some properties from two administrative paradigms: the bureaucratic model of Weber and the New Public Management. Taking into consideration four digital inclusion policies, we argue that the successful implementation of two of them (the programs Ceibal in Uruguay and Conectar Igualdad in Argentina) can be explained by the use of a neo-weberian form of political and administrative management. In our opinion, although it remains an ideal type, the concept of “Neo-Weberian State” is considerably useful for whoever analyses the transformations of public institutions in Latin America.

Cette thèse se consacre à la gestation et au destin d'une institution étatique conçue pour la gestion de l'émigration et l'encadrement des rapports de l'État équatorien avec ses ressortissants à l'étranger -le Secrétariat national du migrant de l'Équateur (Senami) -et aux activités que cette institution a déployées à ces fins. Au moment où le Senami est créé en mars 2007 par le président Rafael Correa, l'enjeu consiste à assembler une institution «transnationale» capable d'agir au plus près des émigrés comme pour s'emparer des«absents» ou des «oubliés de la Patrie», pour reprendre le langage des acteurs, et les intégrer à l'État d'origine ainsi qu'à l'entreprise politique de la "Révolution citoyenne" dirigée par Correa. Disposant du soutien présidentiel, tout aurait laissé à croire que le Senami bénéficiait des conditions favorables pour se développer au sein de l'État. Or, six ans après sa création, l'acte de disparition de la jeune institution est signé en juin 2013 par celui-là même qui en était l'un de ses principaux promoteurs au départ, le président Correa. Le processus de construction institutionnelle du Senami et les efforts déployés pour l'installer durablement dans l'appareil étatique sont ainsi au cœur de cette thèse. Nous nous attacherons en particulier aux luttes politiques autour de la place de l'émigré en Équateur ainsi qu'aux compétitions bureaucratiques au cours desquelles non seulement se définit l'enjeu migratoire et la politique censée l’encadrer, mais se joue aussi le devenir de l'institution conçue pour les émigrés. / This PhD dissertation explores the gestation and the fate of the National Secretariat for Migrants of Ecuador (Senami) – a state institution designed to manage emigration and to promote the ties between the Ecuadorian State and its nationals abroad. Particular attention will be given to the activities such institution conducts towards these ends. When President Rafael Correa creates the Senami in March 2007, the aim was to build a "transnational" institution that would be capable of reaching out to the expatriates or the "the forgotten ones of the homeland" -in the words of the actors involved, and that would be able to bring them "back home" and integrate them into the political project of the Citizens' Revolution (or Revolución Ciudadana) led by Correa. Yet, only six years after its creation, the Senami disappears: a new decree is issued in June 2013 by one of its main advocates: Rafael Correa. This dissertation explores the Senami institutional construction process and the efforts to install it sustainably within the state apparatus. We will thus pay close attention to the political struggles in Ecuador around the issue of establishing ties with those abroad as well as the bureaucratic rivalries in which the definition of the stakes at play in the emigration phenomenon and the elaboration of an adequate policy are negotiated, and in which the fate of the new-born institution designed for the expatriates is decided.