My research project focuses on what happens in the internal life of left-wing parties in South America when they achieve power, using a democratic and progressive brand. It is possible to appreciate that – when in power – these parties promote democracy and extensive rights are for citizens, but not for participants of different parties. Leaders introduce another kind of practice (non-democratic) to maintain the parties quiet while they manage political power. Those practices consist of the existence of informal institutions, which compete with formal procedures during political recruitments for internal and external elections; and recruitment based on gender-biased, which excludes women and participants from territories far from the national capitals. Conversely, it is also noticeable that the precariousness of political debate within a neoliberalist context of depoliticization, political parties usually avoid political and ideological discussions, and provide extensive space for technocrats to decide public policies. Finally, there is a considerable gap between the leftist discourse and the neoliberal public policies that some countries exhibit. In this research, three parties will be analysed: The Worker’s Party, Brazil (Partido dos Trabalhadores); The Movement Towards Socialism, Bolivia (MAS); and The Socialist Party, Chile (Partido Socialista). The three cases have been in and out of office over similar periods. As such, studying their trajectories from the re-democratization to the present would provide an assessment about whether and how exerting political power changed the employment of non-democratic parties within each case, while also offering a comparative perspective.
Awards | Grants | Scholarships | Funding
- Postgraduate Chilean Scholarship for Master Studies granted by the National Research and Development Agency (2013)
- Beca Chile Scholarship for Doctoral Studies Abroad (2020)
Conference presentations and talks
- 2016 XXXIV Congress of the Latin American Studies Association. Panel: Public Policy Reforms and Institutions in Chile, track: Politics and Public Policy for the LASA 2016 Congress. Presentation: 'Reform to the Electoral Systems in Chile: A first Step for the Inclusion of Women into Politics'.
- 2017 Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO-Chile). Seminar Women in Politics: elections and protagonists in comparative perspective. Presentation: the gender quotas of the 2017 parliamentary election. Notes for an autopsy.
- 2019 Political Analysis Argentinean Society (SAAP). Presentation in the Political Parties’ track 'Nondemocratic practices in the Chilean political parties: the case of Socialist Party of Chile'.
- 2019 International IDEA and Semillas para la Democracia Foundation. Workshop for academic and political parties’ stakeholders: 'Public financing with gender perspective'.
Publications
Edited books:
El Estado y las Mujeres: el complejo camino hacia una necesaria transformación de las instituciones (RIL Editores, 2018) ISBN 978-956-01-0511-0.
Articles and book chapters:
- Javier Arce Riffo, Julieta Suárez-Cao, 'La paridad de género y la lucha por una representación efectiva de las mujeres en política', in Revista Anuario de Derecho Público (Ediciones Universidad Diego Portales, 2022)
- Javiera Arce Riffo, 'El feminismo institucional y la Convención Constitucional chilena. Una necesaria intersección', in Brito, Sofía (coord.) Desafíos para nuestro momento constituyente (Editorial LOM, 2021)
- Javiera Arce Riffo, 'Gender Parity in the Chilean Constitutional Convention: What Does mean for Chilean Democracy?', in Oxford Human Rights Hub. A global perspective of Human Rights (Faculty of Law, Oxford University, 2020). Access here: https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/gender-parity-in-the-chilean-constitutional-convention-what-does-it-mean-for-chilean-democracy/
- Javiera Arce Riffo, 'Las contradicciones del mayo feminista de 2018. “Las contradicciones del mayo feminista”, in Revista Iberoamericana, 19, 72, ISSN: 2255-520X, 2019, 234-240, DOI/URL: 1 0.18441/ibam.19.2019.72. 223-245.
- Javiera Arce Riffo, 'Abriendo la caja negra de los partidos políticos chilenos: expresiones de la desigualdad género en la militancia política', in Revista Jurídica de Buenos Aires , 43, 97, ISSN: 0326-7431, (AbeledoPerrot S.A, 2018), 217-238, DOI/URL: http://www.derecho.uba.ar/publicaciones/rev_juridica/rj ba-2018-ii.pdf
- Javiera Arce Riffo, 'Ley de cuotas a la chilena: notas para una autopsia', in: Miranda, L. y Suárez-Cao, J. La política siempre ha sido cosa de mujeres: elecciones y protagonistas en Chile y en la región. ISBN: 978956205269-6. (Santiago, FLACSO, 2018). https://flacsochile.org/doc/2019/Libro_Politica_siempre_v.FINALcorregida.pdf
Book review:
¿Por qué funciona el populismo?, in Revista ReCerca, Revista de Pensamient I Análisi. ISSN: 11306149. (Barcelona, Universitat Jaume I, 2020)
Report:
2018 | 'Informe de diagnóstico: Análisis sobre las relaciones de género en la Universidad de Valparaíso.', ISBN 978-956-214-198-7
Teaching
Year | Institution | Course |
2018-2019 | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile | Mujeres en Política en América Latina. Para el Instituto de Ciencia Política. |
2018 | Universidad de Valparaíso | Formulación de Políticas Públicas. Magíster en Gobierno y Gestión Pública. |
2016 | Universidad de Valparaíso | Seminario de Políticas Públicas- Escuela de Sociología |
2015 | Universidad de Valparaíso | Gestión de Políticas Económicas y Sociales, Magíster en Gobierno y Gestión Pública. Realizado en conjunto con Paula Quintana Meléndez. |
As thesis supervisor:
2021 | Universidad de Valparaíso Magister en Gobierno y Gestión Pública. | “Significados sobre la institucionalidad victimológica en Chile. La Experiencia de la Red de Asistencia Víctimas de Valparaíso”. Autora: Karin Silva Villarroel. |
2021 | Universidad de Valparaíso Magíster en Gobierno y Gestión Pública. | “Mujeres, pobreza y obesidad: el caso del programa Elige Vida Sana. La completa ausencia del enfoque de género en las políticas públicas”. Autora: Loredana Azocar Dellepiane. |
2019 | Universidad de Valparaíso. Escuela de Sociología. | Género y diversidad funcional: construcción de significados en torno a la sexualidad a partir de los discursos de mujeres con diversidad funcional participantes de CIMUNIDES en 2018. Autoras: Victoria Figueroa y Daniela Martínez. |
2017 | Universidad de Valparaíso- Magíster en Gobierno y Gestión Pública | “Acoger al amigo cuando es forastero”: el rol de la legislación migratoria vigente en Chile y los conflictos internos con el grupo migratorio colombiano en la comuna de Antofagasta”. Autor: Fernando Ignacio Navarro Bustos. |
Media
Interview by Chilean newspaper La Tercera | June 14, 2021
Interview in Chilean blog The Clinic | August 19, 2021
Interview in Observatorio de Genero y Equidad (OGE - Chile) newsletter | September 13, 2021
Memberships
- Asociación Chilena de Ciencia Política
- Latin America Studies Association
- Asociación Latinoamericana de Ciencia Política
- Red de Politólogas
Legislative experience
Year | Activity |
2020 | Designer and supporter of the political process that create the electoral formula of gender parity to the Chilean Constitutional Convention (With Julieta Suárez-Cao). Chile was the first country in the world with a Constitutional body with gender parity and reserved seats for indigenous people. |
2015 | Designer of different amendments in the Political Parties Law reform. Those amendment were about transparency, accountability, and the promotion of women empowerment in the political parties. |
2015 | Participation as a designer of amendments introduced in the Electoral Reform, which replace the Binominal Electoral System by other Moderate Proportional. In addition, I´ve participated in the public audience in the Constitutional Court to defend the reform http://www.tribunalconstitucional.cl/wp/audiencia-publica-20150318. Fallo del Recurso de Inconstitucionalidad presentado por un grupo de Senadores ROL: 2777-15 |
Political activity
- Member of Socialist Party of Chile since 2003 to 2021.
- Spokesperson, Presidential campaign of Sen. Yasna Provoste during the Chilean presidential elections of 2021