Opera

¿Qué funciona para reducir homicidios en América Latina y el Caribe?

Santiago García — 2025-06-30

Presentación

Andrés Macías-Tolosa — 2025-06-30

Interaction and Influence of Governance in Public Policy Planning

Harold Morales Grisales — 2025-06-30

This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the intricate relationship between governance and public policy formulation, emphasizing how participatory governance reshapes both the design and implementation of public strategies. By exploring the dynamics of citizen engagement and institutional frameworks, the study aims to develop a context-aware perspective that can inform future policy decisions. Employing a qualitative methodology grounded in literature review, the findings reveal that governance, when integrated into public policy, fosters more adaptive, transparent, and inclusive approaches. These evolving frameworks better respond to increasingly complex and diverse societal challenges, marking a shift away.

The Democratic Decline Toward Authoritarianism in the 21st Century: A Global Outlook with Insights from Colombia

Yury Lineth Sierra Torres — 2025-06-30

The 21st century has witnessed a noticeable regression from democratic governance toward authoritarian tendencies, even within well-established democracies. This reflection paper investigates the legal and institutional practices that have facilitated democratic backsliding in Colombia between 2014 and 2022, encompassing the administrations of Juan Manuel Santos and Iván Duque. Through a conceptual analysis of authoritarianism and an overview of global democratic erosion, the paper contextualizes Colombia’s experience within a broader trend. By applying the Overton Window framework and tracing Colombia’s democratic evolution, the study identifies specific setbacks and institutional shifts that have subtly enabled authoritarian practices under the guise of legality.

Silenced Defendants: Deaf Individuals in Colombia’s Criminal Justice System. Criminogenesis and Procedural Actions

Miguel Álvarez-Correa G-C. — 2025-06-30

The Freedom Project of Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office, provides an exploratory diagnosis of the criminalization and procedural treatment of severely deaf individuals prosecuted between December 2011 and March 2024. Following a thorough review of legal documents, case files, and semi-structured interviews, and incorporating cognitive assessments using the Raven Test, the research uncovers systemic deficiencies. A significant number of cases involve sexual and violent offenses, often linked to cognitive challenges rooted in educational disparities, illness,(meningitis, rubella, etc.) or genetic factors. The findings expose a pattern of judicial neglect, limited institutional awareness, and prolonged trials, highlighting the urgent need for inclusive legal standards and protections for deaf individuals within the justice system.

Global Impact of the New Public Management in Healthcare: A Scopus-Based Bibliometric Study

Óscar Marino López-Mallama — 2025-06-30

Amid the growing influence of New Public Management (NPM) in the healthcare sector, this bibliometric analysis examines nearly four decades of scholarly output indexed in Scopus. The study maps chronological trends, geographical contributions, citation metrics, and thematic clusters to understand the evolution and diffusion of NPM in health policy. The data indicate a surge in academic interest peaking in 2021, with the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia emerging as key contributors. The dominance of high-impact journals and renowned scholars underscores the relevance and complexity of NPM-driven health services.

Indigenous-Led Food And Nutrition Policy: Construction and Experience From Its Actors

Maira Cecilia Lambraño Márquez — 2025-06-30

This article explores the development and implementation of the School Feeding Program for Indigenous Peoples (PAEPI) in Sucre, Colombia, during 2023, focusing on the role of indigenous actors. Utilizing a qualitative methodology with a public policy analysis lens, the study incorporates documentary review, ethnography, interviews, and focus groups. The results highlight how culturally tailored guidelines promote the inclusion of local, healthful foods rooted in traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, the research reveals the positive impact of cross-institutional collaboration, illustrating how local knowledge and inter-agency commitment jointly shape an inclusive policy framework aligned with indigenous cultural and nutritional values.

Informal Transportation in Santiago de Cali: Current Punitive Challenges and Public Innovation for the Future

Álvaro Antonio González Solis — 2025-06-30

This study examines the critical role of transportation in urban life, with a focus on the informal transport sector in Santiago de Cali. Inadequate formal infrastructure has led to the rise of informal modes of transit, contributing to congestion, pollution, and regulatory inefficiencies. Through a case study approach, the article investigates the socio-economic factors fueling informal transport and evaluates potential strategies for integrating it into the official Mass Transit System (SITMMIO). The paper proposes an innovative public policy model grounded in inclusivity and complementarity, advocating for the transformation of informal services into structured, sustainable alternatives that improve accessibility, safety, and service quality for all citizens.

Think Tanks and Local Public Policies: Influence of Eafit’s Public Value Center on Medellín’s Security Policy (2006–2021)

Yohan Sebastian Ríos Agudelo — 2025-06-30

This article explores the influence of the Public Value Center (CVP) at EAFIT University on Medellín’s Security and Coexistence Policy from 2006 to 2021. Using qualitative methods including document analysis, interviews, and database review, the study traces how the CVP contributed to shaping local governance frameworks. The findings highlight the CVP’s close collaboration with municipal authorities and its dual role as both policy advisor and stakeholder. The analysis raises concerns over potential conflicts of interest arising from private sector funding, suggesting the emergence of exclusionary policy dynamics. The paper calls for a balanced model that safeguards academic independence while enabling meaningful policy engagement.

The Bogotá-Cundinamarca Metropolitan Region: Progress and Strategic Vision

Luis Armando Blanco Cruz — 2025-06-30

The creation of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Metropolitan Region represents a transformative step in regional planning and development. However, realizing its potential depends on robust institutional design and substantial investment in infrastructure. This article argues that beyond legal and constitutional reforms, the success of the RMBC hinges on establishing clear governance mechanisms, incentives, and participatory structures that promote coordination among diverse stakeholders. It advocates for a governance model rooted in transparency, legitimacy, and collective engagement to foster long-term cohesion and sustainable regional development.

The Links Between Regulation and Development: A Theoretical conceptual Discussion with Implications for Latin America

Mauricio I. Dussauge-Laguna — 2025-06-30

What is the nature of the relationship between regulation and development? While widely acknowledged as vital, this link remains underexplored, especially in the context of developing nations. This article offers a theoretical and conceptual discussion that redefines the regulation–development nexus through a multidimensional analytical framework. Reviewing global and Latin American literature, the study critiques the prevailing focus on institutional design in advanced economies and highlights the need for context-specific regulatory approaches in Latin America. It proposes avenues for future research that integrate legal, economic, and sociopolitical dimensions, contributing to more effective and equitable regulatory strategies in the region.

Building Homes and Resilience: Venezuela’s Role in the Rise of Portmore, Jamaica, the Largest Housing Development in the English-Speaking Caribbean (1970s-2000s)

Aieka Yasheva Smith — 2025-06-30

Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) grapple with significant housing deficits, often exacerbated by economic constraints and limited resources. In the case of Jamaica, strategic partnerships, particularly with Venezuela, historically, one of its greatest allies in South America, played a transformative role in addressing these challenges. This paper investigates the evolving relationship between Jamaica and Venezuela from the 1970s to the 2000s, framed within the broader context of South-South Cooperation (S-S C). Focusing on the development of Portmore, the largest urban community in the English-speaking Caribbean, the study explores how shared socio-economic goals facilitated collaboration, particularly in housing and urban development. Venezuela’s influence, often recognized in the context of energy cooperation, extended to significant contributions to Jamaica’s infrastructure, notably the expansion of Portmore. Drawing on newspaper reports and diplomatic records, the paper provides insight into how Venezuela’s support played a key role in the growth of Portmore and its significance within Jamaica. The study situates these efforts within the framework of regional cooperation and strategic South-South alliances that shaped Jamaica’s urban landscape. It discusses how bilateral agreements and development programs, including the PetroCaribe Agreement, further cemented this South-South partnership between two ambitious countries. This study suggests that such collaborative frameworks can serve as models for addressing pressing issues faced by SIDS, ultimately contributing to their long-term social and economic resilience.

Security Actors, Agency Politics and Economic Implications of Multiple Security Checkpoints Along Nigeria-Benin Borders

Adetayo Olamide Sowale — 2025-07-10

Emanating from the borders between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin in the regional security complex of West Africa there are criminal activities that pose serious implications for the Nigerian state. The persistence of transnational organised crimes on this corridor despite the presence of the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service and other specialised security agencies established by Nigeria to completely eradicate or minimise cross-border crimes makes the study of agency politics of multiple checkpoints in the Nigeria-Benin border communities imperative. The study, utilising agency theory adopts a qualitative research design with the aid of primary and secondary source of data to examine the multiplicity of security actors (and their checkpoints); and investigate the rationale for and impact of multiple checkpoints for border security. The study argues that the multiplicity of security actors and checkpoints intended to ensure effective border security have become spaces for bribery and corruption, negotiation, bargaining and compromise. The study concludes that the multiple checkpoints are laced and shaped by the politics of the different security agencies mounting checkpoints along the Nigeria-Benin border and while these checkpoints have played pivotal roles in intercepting trans-border criminals, they are also “cheque-points” of corrupt interactions between the security actors and transporters. It is on this note that the study recommends that the Nigerian government should provide a holistic security framework that would ensure that the purpose of multiple security checks along Nigeria-Benin borders are achieved with a minimal or total eradication of an unprofessional interface between security, criminal, and non-criminal actors.