Political parties are the basic building blocks of representative democracy. They reduce information costs for voters, enhance executive accountability, and contribute to democratic governability by facilitating legislative organization and aggregating the interests of powerful societal groups. Yet we continue to know relatively little about the conditions under which strong parties form. The dominant theories of party-building are mostly based on historical studies of the United States and Western European countries, almost all of which developed stable party systems. Drawing on this literature, a segment of the early scholarship on party-building in third-wave democracies optimistically took "party development" for granted, assuming that parties would follow from democracy, cleavages, or certain electoral rules. Yet party-building outcomes in third-wave democracies fell short of scholars' initial, optimistic expectations. In many third-wave polities, social cleavages, attempts at electoral engineering, and decades of democratic competition did not produce durable parties. On the other hand, in numerous third-wave democracies, new political parties did take root. What accounts for the variation in party-building outcomes observed across the developing world? More generally, under what conditions does party-building succeed? / Government

Hundreds of thousands of Haitian agricultural laborers arrived in Cuba to cut cane as the Cuban sugar industry was expanding between the 1910s and the 1930s, and many settled permanently on the island. Historically, Haitian laborers occupied the lowest strata in Cuban society. Until relatively recently, the maintenance of Haitian traditions in Cuba was associated with rural isolation and poverty. Today however, the continuation of Haitian customs is no longer associated with isolation, but exactly the opposite. Cuba's Haitian communities are increasingly linked with cultural institutes, heritage festivals, music promoters, and the tourism industry. In Cuba's socialist economy, "folklore" is a valuable resource that demonstrates the unity of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic nation and attracts tourists. Music, dance, and rituals associated with Vodú have been re-imagined for the public stage. The "folkloric imaginary" creates new careers and opportunities for people of Haitian descent in Cuba. Haitiano-cubanos themselves have found innovative ways to transform the once abject into the now exotic, and are currently gaining a public presence in Cuba through folkloric performance. / African and African American Studies

According to the Colombian Ministry of Defense nearly 17,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) demobilized between 2003 and 2013, this dissertation examines the way the Colombian states uses sophisticated consumer marketing strategies and military intelligence tactics to persuade insurgents to abandon the armed struggle. Through an ethnographic analysis of the Program for Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilized and the lives of ex-combatants, this dissertation analyzes the changing definition of demobilization and the feedback between late capitalism and counterinsurgency. / Anthropology

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of urban renewal policies in downtown Bogotá. For decades the city center has been the site of intense struggles over the use and control of urban space. In recent years, state projects of urban reconstruction and public-private redevelopment have made urban displacement and conflicts over property an ever more pressing reality. Through an exploration of renewal practices and discourses, I argue that planning, bureaucratic action, and expert knowledge have become instruments for the exercise of different forms of urbanistic violence. In this sense, urban renewal emerges as a battleground that refracts the country's enduring anxieties over sovereignty, land struggles, and class warfare. Far from prevalent scholarly understandings of global urbanism in which urban transformation is primarily driven by market forces and the retrenchment of state, I emphasize the persistent centrality of technologies of governance, bureaucratic instruments, and expertise in Bogotá's projects of spatial reconstruction. From this perspective, urban planning and redevelopment appear as a laboratory of statecraft, urban knowledge, socio-spatial relations, and citizenship. In looking at such processes I consider the shifts in the city's logics of spatial intervention: from overt warfare and bureaucratic engagement to speculative transactions and inclusionary partnerships. Ultimately, I reflect on the continuities and ruptures between earlier projects of urban securitization and real estate speculation and Bogotá's emergent paradigms of urban revitalization. / Anthropology

This thesis focuses on the importance of truth and memory in the process of transitional justice, within the context of the aftermath of gross violations of human rights that occurred during the military dictatorship of 1976 to 1983 in Argentina. The military junta that ruled Argentina took power under the pretext of national security, arguing that an enemy threatened to destabilize and destroy Argentine society. During the period of the military dictatorship an estimated 30,000 people "disappeared"; relatives of those disappeared mobilized and formed human rights organizations to confront the military regime for its abuses. Once the dictatorship collapsed and democratic rule was reestablished these human rights organizations changed their focus, mobilizing once again to find their missing relatives, learn the truth, and prosecute those responsible of any crimes. A series of amnesty laws and pardons protected the perpetrators of many of the crimes of the military regime through most of the 1990's, until in 2005 the Argentine Supreme Court declared those laws unconstitutional. During the period before the 2005 ruling human rights organizations worked hard to gather the truth about the crimes of the military regime and ensure these crimes were not forgotten. Their initiatives included the famous weekly march to the Plaza de Mayo by members of Madres (Mothers), one of the most important human rights organizations in Argentina; escraches (reveal what is hidden) and public protests by HIJOS (Sons and daughters of the disappeared), actions in which members of HIJOS would go to the houses of known members of the military juntas and protest at their front doors; and programs to find missing grandchildren by Abuelas (Grandmothers), a human rights organization dedicated to searching for the missing children of the disappeared; and others. Because of the structure of terror during the military junta, most Argentines did not know exactly what was happening to the missing persons, and they were afraid to ask. The truth gathering initiatives and the official report of the commission charged with investigating the junta, CONADEP, came into being in response to this lack of knowledge. They helped to inform the Argentine people and the new generations of what had happened during the military dictatorship in hopes of making sure that such abuses do not occur again.

This thesis is an ethnography and biographical study that examines the impact of the immense socioeconomic changes underway in Cuba at the turn of the 21st century and the flexible identity categories through which individuals navigate a social crisis. The biography and ethnography in this thesis are centered on the life of Violeta Aldama, an aging revolutionary and Afro-Cuban mother who struggles to make ends meet while fighting to steer her son, Brian, through a classical music education and into a music career. Amid growing racial inequalities when many Afro-Cubans are locked out of the most lucrative jobs in the new tourism sector and less likely to have family abroad sending remittances, the booming dance music industry offers the greatest promise for advancement and wealth than possibly any other profession. With the retraction of the state in a growing market economy, Violeta must scramble to build new networks of support while also coming to terms with the idea that the system she fought for all of her life will no longer be able to sustain her son. This study argues that individuals navigate through social crises through identity categories that are both socially constructed and subjectively fluid. In the process, they rely on these identity categories to build new contacts for support while also finding in them meaning and agency. I frame this thesis around three broad identity categories - race, class and national identity. The study also shows how Violeta in turn experienced these categories - as well as motherhood and her revolutionary roles - and the ways that she used them to build networks of support. The thesis is guided by the theory on lo informal developed by scholar Damián Fernández: the split in individuals between ideals and passionate beliefs versus life on the black market to help loved ones survive. The study's methodology draws from feminist ethnography, examining not only Violeta's position in society as an Afro-Cuban woman and aging revolutionary, but also my relationship with her and her son as a white, middle-class American researcher during a time when relationships with foreigners became a crucial means of social advancement. This research bridges academic areas of study regarding Cuba's growing racial inequalities and the rising economic power of the music industry. It also contributes to the academic canon on social movements by highlighting roles of individuals - not just the state or opposition alliances - as social actors.

<p> This dissertation examines the influence of donor-driven and recipient-driven interests on foreign aid allocation. </p><p> Chapter 1 examines how the donor's trade interests together with elections and the political competitiveness of electoral processes in recipient countries are associated with bilateral foreign aid flows. US gives more aid to its non-competitive larger trade partners, but cuts their aid ahead of elections. It substitutes aid with market access for non-competitive countries for which it is an important export market, but not during election years. Germany, Japan and UK give more aid to countries with competitive electoral systems, but for these countries Japan and UK substitute aid with trade. The substitution disappears for UK during election years. Japan and UK also reward countries for which they are important export markets with more aid, but only during non-election years for Japan. During election years, Germany cuts aid to non-competitive countries, but gives more aid to non-competitive countries for which it is an export destination. There is weak evidence that France substitutes aid with market access for politically competitive countries. </p><p> Chapter 2 focuses on recipient incentives. I extend the Grossman and Helpman (1996) model of elections and special interests by adding foreign aid. I show that with conditional aid when the preferred policy of the donor and that of the special interest group are not aligned, the latter has an incentive to alter election probabilities so that the opposition party wins and implements the lobby's preferred policy. Under these circumstances, the government has an incentive to substitute away from conditional foreign aid. Furthermore, if the government has a higher probability of winning under unconditional aid, the lobby succeeds in asking the government to deviate the most in its policy stance. </p><p> In Chapter 3 I examine how China's growing importance as an export destination is related to countries' UN voting alignment with the US, and whether this relationship is different if the countries export oil and mineral resources that China. I find regional differences in UN voting alignment response. Latin American countries and Sub-Saharan African countries not heavily reliant on exports of oil and minerals show decreased political alignment with increased export dependence on China. UN voting alignment for the resource exporters from Sub-Saharan Africa do not vary with export dependence on China. Instead, they have a lower level of UN alignment with the US.</p>

The farm workers who diligently tend and harvest the US fields and produce is a major component of the agriculture industry. This research explores the current issues and challenges that domestic, seasonal farm workers face through the lenses of embodiment and habitus theory. Narratives and insights from interviews were integrated with current literature to present a complete picture of the cyclical life of the domestic farm worker in San Luis, Arizona. This thesis argues that farm work is a unique profession which has left its mark on the body and the behavior. Those in the border region have added agency due to the opportunities the border presents. As this research highlights, additional attention and research is needed to redesign policies and initiatives to adequately assist and provide for a population that provides so much.

<p> This study identified a leadership competency model for developing healthcare executives in Mexico based on the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) Model. Eleven chief executive officers and chief medical officers were interviewed. They considered 86% of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) competencies as very important or vital and perceived a gap in the performance of these competencies. They also identified additional vital competencies beyond the scope of the NCHL's model. Participants also reported that leadership development and succession planning programs were lacking. Recommendations are to design a leadership development program using the NCHL model as a framework and further customizing the approach per the organization's unique mission, vision, strategy, values, and circumstances. The NCHL is offered as a general strategy for leader development that could be useful in the Mexican private healthcare industry, based on some "best practices" in the design and implementation of the leadership programs.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to explore the experiences of 15 international executives with families following a postrelocation assignment in Latin America. The existing literature supported the themes that emerged from the results. The three themes were (a) overall good opportunity, (b) positive influence on family experience, and (c) concerns and challenges for the family. Of the three primary themes, other subthemes surfaced from the data. The results of the study indicated that international assignments have an overall positive influence on families, and the challenges and concerns can represent a potential threat for recruiters if they are not addressed to diminish them. The results indicated that even with minor challenges during the adjustment process, the gain of the experience extends beyond the relocation experience. Challenges and minor inconveniences that the executives and their families face are well compensated by the experience and knowledge obtained in a different culture. The majority of the studies identified the family relationship as the most important factor because spouse and children can have a direct influence on the decision to accept an international assignment. Career is another important factor because some expatriates accept the international assignment with the promise that they will have a better position in the future, while compensation is one of the less important factors. Managers should develop policies to support the expatriate in the transition and relocation process to ensure that they develop the appropriate policies to attract the required workforce.</p>