Democracies in Africa and Latin America share many common challenges: weak institutional foundations, dissatisfied voters, strong presidents who exploit incumbency advantage, the temptation of one-party rule, attacks on judicial independence, organized crime, geopolitical tensions resulting from the new role of China, and the legacies of colonialism, military intervention, and armed conflict, among others. At the same time, political regimes vary considerably across the two regions and within each region. What can we learn from the comparison of African and Latin American cases? This panel will welcome analyses that compare political regimes or political processes across Africa and Latin America, or that use the literature on one region to shed new light on the problems faced by the other region. All methodological perspectives are welcome. The panel is sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Please submit the title of your paper, an abstract, and your contact information to Anibal Perez-Linan (aperezl1@nd.edu) by March 13.
