This article focuses on when and how states develop transnational policies. It presents a case study of a relatively small emigrant community, whose departure was not simply caused by poverty or crisis, but most recently by an economic and political debacle that questioned people's values and expectations. I focus on the state side of the equation and identify a shift in Argentina's policy after 2003, though also show how such policies came out of a long history of state intervention in population and migration and are now related to human rights concerns and the unfinished process of democratic consolidation. I argue that the state initiates political transnationalism, not migrants, and highlight the importance of some relatively unexplored factors in the understanding of the motivation, intensity and impact of the state's involvement, such as the characteristics of the emigrant community, the existence of specific political projects, the role of some domestic actors and processes, and the nature of international agreements.

This study explores when, why, and how the Ecuadorian state has implemented programs and policies aimed at reaching out to its nationals living abroad. The evidence shows an increasing activism on the part of the state that has intensified under Rafael Correa’s administration and acquired some innovative traits; it has also translated into foreign policy actions that have placed Ecuador in a leadership role in the Andean region. The timing, motivation, and nature of those transnational policies do not exactly fit the assumptions and typologies of existing literature on the subject. The characteristics of this case, as well as some contradictions and tensions in policy content and implementation, are better explained by domestic political factors such as the nature and internal dynamics of the coalition in government, the political discourse that helped to sell and give shape to Correa’s political project, and the serious institutional instability and fragility in which an ambitious new reform of the state has been launched.

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The role of ideas has been neglected, in comparison with the role of interests and institutions, in the literature on neoliberal reform in Latin America. While ideas were not the primary cause of neoliberal reform, their development, articulation, and dissemination are a significant part of the story of the rise and fall of the "Washington Consensus." The neoliberalism of the 1980s and 1990s lost credibility and capacity to provide politically feasible policy guidelines because it was based on an elitist, exclusionary pact among small groups of experts and elites representing the interests of transnational capital. Only by understanding the origins and limitations of the ideas behind neoliberal reform can a new, more inclusive economic model for Latin America be created.

This study analyzes Uruguay's recently launched emigration policy. It argues that the redrawing of the boundaries of the nation-state along non-territorial basis is still an incipient and contested process. The findings highlight some relatively under-explored explanatory factors: emigrants' profile; political junctures requiring immediate commitment; the impact of rhetorical changes and post-neoliberal projects; presidents as policy drivers and sources of inconsistencies; and institutional deficiencies, inertias, lack of reform, and society's conflictive notions of nation and belonging as brakes. The conclusions indicate that the sustainability of emigration policy is contingent on the state's progress toward internal reform and society's ability to acquire a greater voice and more organizational capacity. Exploring emigration policy characteristics and sources of setbacks in Uruguay unveils the inter-mestic character of state transnational outreach efforts, qualifies and refines existing explanations, expands our understanding of new governance techniques, and provides some insights into the requirements for emigration policies to work effectively.

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Enfranchising emigrants implicitly involves inviting them to have a voice and increasing engagement in home politics, thus maintaining active membership of their nation of origin. However, in the Latin American Southern Cone (as well as in several other countries in the region), both state policies and expats' responses have fallen short of making that invitation effective. What explains this inclusion paradox? Why, while franchise is expanding has effective political inclusion of citizens living abroad not materialized? This article addresses these questions for the cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Conclusions highlight relatively unexplored explanatory factors and enhance our understanding of the links between migration policy innovation and political inclusion beyond borders in some of the least studied cases in the literature.

2018 was a rocky year for Argentina. Economic instability put it on the brink of crisis again and eroded the government's credibility. This article provides an analysis of the main social, political and economic events affecting Argentina's domestic politics and foreign policy. It accounts for selected issues, with an emphasis on changes in public policies and implications for the upcoming years. The argumentative thread focuses on the consequences of Argentina's being haunted by the spectre of another debacle. Within changes in public policies, the focus is on the end of a gradual approach to structural changes and initiatives related to population and human mobility across borders-a policy area that has required increasing attention and resources of late.