Institutional Variation, Balance of Power and Agenda Control: Evidence from the Argentine Subnational Legislatures

dc.contributor.advisorAlemán, Eduardo
dc.contributor.committeeMemberCalvo, Ernesto F.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberClark, Jennifer H.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSlapin, Jonathan
dc.creatorLacalle, Marina 1980-
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-04T22:04:45Z
dc.date.available2018-12-04T22:04:45Z
dc.date.createdDecember 2013
dc.date.issued2013-12
dc.date.submittedDecember 2013
dc.date.updated2018-12-04T22:04:45Z
dc.description.abstractThis research investigates how patterns of legislative competition (i.e. partisan fragmentation and the majority/plurality party) are likely to affect the effect of rules and practices that govern the legislative process. These different patterns of legislative competition, I argue, will have an impact on the agenda-setting prerogatives of majority, plurality and minority parties; determining which bill initiatives are given consideration by the plenary floor and will win final approval in a state legislature. That is, my research will show how the gatekeeping prerogatives of majority, plurality, and minority parties; affect the relative success of individual legislators and the type of state's legislation being approved. The data to test these hypotheses come from a promising yet unexplored source: the local legislatures of Argentina's provinces over a twenty five year period, 1984-2009. My research will not only contribute to the literature on comparative legislatures but also to the knowledge of subnational legislative success in federal countries. I expect my research to show that changes in the partisan environment within local legislatures shapes the selection and use of gatekeeping prerogatives by majority parties e.g. distribution of authority posts and committee assignments. To explore the ability of the majority, plurality, and minority parties to set the legislative agenda, I distinguish rates of introduction and success by type of party, legislative bloc, and year (1983 to 2009). I expect variation in the partisan make-up of the legislation reaching the floor to provide critical information on the use of gatekeeping institutions by majority, plurality, and majority parties. The findings generated in this project will contribute to the discipline by furthering our understanding of subnational legislative politics in federal polities. Moreover, this project will disentangle institutional and contextual determinants of legislative success, which are critical to understand the organization of local legislatures. The data collected for this project will prove a valuable contribution to future scholars interested in furthering comparative legislative studies. Such research should also prove valuable to assess the performance of legislative bodies and improve the levels of transparency and accountability in emerging democracies.
dc.description.departmentPolitical Science, Department of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10657/3646
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectLegislative politics
dc.subjectAgenda control
dc.subjectSubnational
dc.subjectArgentina
dc.titleInstitutional Variation, Balance of Power and Agenda Control: Evidence from the Argentine Subnational Legislatures
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
thesis.degree.departmentPolitical Science, Department of
thesis.degree.disciplineComparative Politics
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy

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