Opinião Pública – Vol. 25, Nº 2 2019
Articles in this issue
Authors: Mitchell Seligson, Daniel E. Moreno Morales e Guilherme A. Russo
While the positive effect of education on political tolerance toward minorities is well-known, we understand far less about education’s impact on tolerance across varying contexts. Utilizing multilevel statistical techniques, we find an interactive effect indicating that education at the individual level has a greater effect on political tolerance toward those who identify as homosexuals in wealthier countries. The results suggest that (1) completing additional levels of schooling may be insufficient to promote tolerant attitudes toward this minority and (2) more investment in education leads to stronger impacts. We support this finding by showing that where educational expenditures are greater, the average impact of secondary education is larger. The study uses individual data from 26 countries in the 2014 AmericasBarometer as well as indicators from the World Bank DataBank and Freedom House.
Author: Junia Ortiz
This study aims to investigate how contextual factors can affect the socio-psychological processes specified by the Spiral of Silence theory, such as the fear of isolation and opinion congruency. The contexts for this research were divided into online environments—social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, and Orkut), chat rooms, and online discussion forums—and face-to-face communication. Data were obtained through an online survey about civil union between same-sex couples. Based on 226 completed forms, the data collected were then subject to statistical treatment to test our hypotheses. The analysis of the data revealed that expression of opinion, in association with socio-psychological factors that operate in the spiral of silence, is linked to a set of factors related to the specific characteristics of each environment in which the opinion is expressed. Thus, the communication configuration affects individuals’ willingness to express their views, so the spiral of silence occurs differently in each context.
Authors: María de Jesús Ávila Sánchez, Eric Omar Pantoja Donia e José Alfredo Jáuregui Díaz
The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between some dimensions of social capital and the observational incidence of different types of violence in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey. In this analysis, we use the database of the Social Cohesion Survey for the Prevention of Violence and Delinquency (ECOPRED) as the primary source of information. The research data were analyzed using the statistical technique of the main components to determine the typology of social capital and the different types of violence. Subsequently, a multiple linear regression model was developed. Based on the results, it was shown that three dimensions of social capital, organized social networks, strong interpersonal trust, and high social expectations had a positive effect on the reduction of violence due to cohabitation or gangs, of damages against property, and of minor crimes. In conclusion, having some dimension of social capital is a community strategy to contain violence.
Author: Cíntia Pinheiro Ribeiro de Souza
This article investigates factors associated with the levels of voter turnout, in particular, contextual political variables. The argument is that with the weakening of enduring constraints, such as sociodemographic and sociopsychological, we must consider the short-term effect of the conjuncture on electoral participation. The study of this effect is still incipient in Brazil and Latin America. The initial expectation was that competition, campaign spending, and fragmentation were positively associated with aggregate voter turnout. This hypothesis was tested using multivariate linear models in the mayoral elections of 2012. The results confirm this hypothesis in relation to competition and campaign expenditures, with even more force on valid votes compared to attendance itself. However, the results point to a negative effect of fragmentation.
Author: Luciana Rodrigues Penna
This article focuses on the political uses of the Law, more specifically on the way that fractions of the Brazilian imperial elite mobilized discourses. The main goal of this approach is to discuss the mobilization of legal knowledge in the context of the conflicts engendered in the 19th century about the definition of a model of State in Brazil, through socio-historical methodology. This research shows the uses of publicism, as well as the invention of constitutionalism, as strategies in the political game, which correspond to the rivalry between elites in the process of construction and legitimation of a regime with monarchical features and centralized.
Authors: Karina L. Pasquariello Mariano, Bruno Theodoro Luciano e Lucas Bispo dos Santos
The EU-Mercosur negotiations have been traditionally assessed from the perspective of the governments. The aim of this article is to discuss the role of regional parliaments in these negotiations, which already have endured for over twenty years. The analysis verifies whether the existence of a regional parliament has amplified the discussions over the negotiations and has impacted the progress of the trade talks, taking into account the period between 1999 and 2017. The article analyzes the positions of parliamentarians with regard to: the proposals presented by each bloc; the degree of information on negotiations to which they have access; and the capacity of regional parliaments to influence the terms of the agreement. The objective was to verify the degree of involvement of regional parliaments in trade negotiations. We conclude that, although the two parliaments present distinct degrees of competence, in both cases autonomous performance regarding the governments, with a significant degree of political polarization with regards to the outcomes of the agreement and a strong demand for more transparent trade negotiations, was observed.
Authors: Natália Guimarães Duarte Sátyro e Eleonora Schettini Martins Cunha
The existing empirical research is insufficient to explain the variation in bureaucratic and managerial capacity at the local level and its consequences for the implementation of social policies. This article analyzes the perception of technicians and municipal managers of social assistance regarding the problematic factors in the implementation of the policy. The research design uses grounded theory to generate knowledge about the field, as well as a survey, in an attempt to analyze how representative the qualitative findings are of the whole. The results show the centrality of budgetary constraints in policy implementation, but put at the center of the discussion technical and administrative factors such as the major stumbling blocks in managing social assistance policy at the local level. The results also suggest the use of informal strategies for solving problems of this nature.
Authors: Paulo Roberto Neves Costa e Igor Sulaiman Said Felicio Borck
The article deals with the relationship between entrepreneurs and Parliament in Brazil, more specifically the Legislative Agenda of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI). The objective is to check the particularities of the process of constituting industrialists as political actors in Parliament from analytical categories focused on 1) the internal institutional process of the CNI as regards defining its positions on the projects in progress, 2) the way the entity describes and evaluates its relationship with the Federal Legislative Branch, and 3) a comparison between such positions and the results of the legislative process. The public documents of the CNI, processed in a quantitative and qualitative manner, were used, considering the period from 2010 to 2017. We have verified that the particularities of the relationship between industrialists and Parliament indicate the complexity of the process of their constitution as a political actor in the legislative process, the importance given to such a process and the high degree of satisfaction with the form and results of this relationship, allowing us to think about the characteristics of this institution also in the light of the relationship established with it by an important social group, as well as on the concrete functioning and social bases of Brazilian Democracy.