EUA: a guinada à direita

Party positions over international human rights treaties in the United States in the Post-Cold War

“…a historic opportunity to help redefine US foreign policy through a human rights policy (MAINWARING, 1986), that changed the fundamental nature of US-Third World relations while still protecting essential American interests (SCHMITZ; WALKER, 2004).…”

“…Moreover, Carter was accused of being a weak president, especially after the disaster in Iran, the Sandinista victory in Nicaragua, and the spread of atrocities committed by the communist regimes of Cambodia and Vietnam. In this context, social movements organized by the new right demanded a more aggressive presence of the United States in the Third World (MAINWARING, 1986). Reagan's victory in 1980 led American foreign policy in this direction, reinforcing the Republican Party's reputation as a proponent of conservative positions.…”

“…This trend would imply the possibility of ratifying a treaty since it would make it difficult to build convergence between the parties. Considering the previous debates on parties' ideologies and positions over the time (HUNTINGTON, 1997;LINDSAY, 1994;MAINWARING, 1986;MEERNIK, 1993;MILNER;TINGLEY, 2015;NELSON;TILLMAN, 1984;NYE, 1999;POPE;WOON, 2008;RICE, 2000;ROSATI;SCOTT, 2011), the institutional changes and the prospects for polarization starting in the 1970 (ALDRICH, 2011;ROHDE, 1991) and increasing in the post-Cold War (ORNSTEIN, 1992), we have investigated the following hypothesis: H1: The possibility of convergence between the Democratic and Republican parties tends to diminish when their positions on human rights treaties are anchored by ideological perspectives.…”