A comparative reassessment of regional parliaments in Latin America: Parlasur, Parlandino and Parlatino

Abstract

The present article assesses and compares the MERCOSUR Parliament, the Andean Parliament, and the Latin American Parliament as instruments to insert political representation and parliamentarians in their respective integration projects. It is argued that the development of regional parliaments in Latin America, however, has not produced substantial changes in regional decisionmaking processes, which remain the exclusive domain of intergovernmental or interpresidential exchanges.

L'apport des instituions parlementaires aux organisations régionales: l'expérience des Amériques

“…Comment évaluer l'apport des IPI dans le fonctionnement des organisations régionales ? Cette question a été abordée dans la littérature, notamment en ce qui concerne les Amériques, alors que des études se sont intéressées à l'influence des IPI dans les organisations régionales à travers, entre autres, une perspective comparative (Malamud et de Souza 2007 ;Dabène 2009 ;Albarracin 2013 ;Mariano et al 2017). Globalement, l'analyse proposée pour l'étude des facteurs qui déterminent la contribution des associations parlementaires et des parlements régionaux ainsi que leur rôle dans les organisations régionales s'appuie sur des éléments tels que leur composition, leur modalité de représentation, leur pouvoir législatif et de contrôle notamment dans le processus décisionnel.…”

Legislators and Regional Organizations: The Issue of Legitimacy

“…On the other hand, the performance of directly elected parliamentarians does not seem to be much better. Despite their availability (Parlasur, personal communication, Montevideo, August 2014), they lack parliamentarian experience or even skills to exercise their functions (Mariano, Bressan, & Luciano, , p. 8). In a similar vein, and contrary to expectations, direct elections of Argentine parliamentarians did not implicate the population in a positive way.…”

“…As with all parliamentary institutions, Parlasur’s effects should be felt more strongly at the throughput and output stages of the legitimation process, but the main constraint concerning Parlasur’s effects comes from the very norms that created it. Member states were indeed reluctant to create an organ beyond their control that could eventually become an independent actor influencing the development of the integration process (Mariano, Bressan, & Luciano, , p. 9). It is particularly true for the main partner, Brazil, which represents 2/3 of the wealth, population, and territory of the bloc and who is the least dependent on the Mercosur because of its diversified external trade (Medeiros & Dri, ).…”

Parlamentos transnacionales hacia la integración regional. Un estudio comparativo entre el Parlatino y el Parlamento Europeo

“…La relevancia del Parlatino radica en el contexto histórico en que se estableció, cuando varios países latinoamericanos sufrieron fuertes rupturas en sus regímenes democráticos. Durante este tiempo, Parlatino sirvió como un fuerte defensor de la democracia y el pluralismo político, se posicionó como una "tribuna moral" (Stavridis, 2006) para los regímenes latinoamericanos que habían violado los derechos humanos y los principios democráticos durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX (Mariano, Bressan and Luciano, 2017).…”