THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON STATE POLICY: HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN MOVEMENTS IN ARGENTINA, CHILE AND URUGUAY VOLUME I A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Cora Fernández Anderson ______________________ Frances Hagopian, Director Graduate Program in Political Science Notre Dame, Indiana December 2011 THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON STATE POLICY: HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN MOVEMENTS IN ARGENTINA, CHILE AND URUGUAY Abstract By Cora Fernández Anderson Under what conditions does a social movement have an impact on state policy and gets their main demands addressed? This dissertation explores these questions through a structured and focused comparison of two social movements in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The cases analyzed in this project are the human rights movement and their demand for justice for the past abuses of the military dictatorship, and the women’s movement demand for the decriminalization of abortion from the time of each country’s democratic transition until 2007. This dissertation argues that for non bread and butter issues to be addressed by the government a social movement organized around them must be present. The movement has to be strong in terms of its power to attract supporters, since it is mainly responsible for placing the issue on the political agenda. Non-bread-and-butter issues such as those espoused by the social movements studied here are not considered a priority by public opinion in developing countries, and thus have a hard time reaching the political agenda Cora Fernández Anderson if no movement mobilizes behind them. In addition, the social movement needs political allies in power for the issues to move forward: for bills, once introduced, to be debated and passed in Congress, for government programs to be implemented, and for institutions to be created that address the movements’ demands. Finally, not all those politicians ideologically close to the movement will respond to its demands in the same way. Political and strategic considerations play a role here. The weaker the president is when assuming power and in particular the greater the need for support from leftist constituencies, the more the government will try to advance the main demands of these social movements. © Copyright by CORA FERNANDEZ ANDERSON 2012 All rights reserved For Omar and Isaf ii CONTENTS VOLUME I LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. xvi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 1.1. Why Study the Outcomes of Social Movement Mobilization? .................................6 1.2. Latin American Social Movements ...........................................................................9 1.3. Policy Area Studies .................................................................................................12 1.4. Social Movements and Policy Change: Defining the Dependent Variable ............16 1.5. Explaining Movement Outcomes: Introducing the Theoretical Model...................22 1.6. Defining the Independent Variables ........................................................................27 1.7. Case Selection .........................................................................................................36 1.8. Methodology ...........................................................................................................39 1.9. Alternative Explanations .........................................................................................41 PART I. STATE RESPONSES TO HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENTS IN ARGENTINA, CHILE AND URUGUAY...................................................................50 iii CHAPTER 2. THE IMPACT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN ARGENTINA ..................................................................................53 2.1. The Madres de Plaza de Mayo ................................................................................53 2.2. Human Rights Movement Demands .......................................................................57 2.3. Systematizing State Response ................................................................................98 2.4. Conclusions for Argentina’s Case ........................................................................112 CHAPTER 3. THE IMPACT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN CHILE ............................................................................................120 3.1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................120 3.2. Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos ......................................122 3.3. Human Rights Movement Demands .....................................................................124 3.4. Systematizing State Response ..............................................................................161 3.5. Conclusions for Chile’s Case ...............................................................................174 CHAPTER 4. THE IMPACT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN URUGUAY ...................................................................................177 4.1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................177 4.2. Madres y Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos: Origins and Main Demands .180 4.3. Human Rights Movement Demands .....................................................................181 4.4. Systematizing State Response ..............................................................................213 4.5. Conclusions for Uruguay’s Case ..........................................................................223 iv CHAPTER 5. CONDITIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENTS’ SUCCESS ........................................................................................................................226 5.1. Movement Strength ..............................................................................................227 5.2. Political Allies .......................................................................................................241 5.3. Presidential Weakness ...........................................................................................268 5.4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................276 VOLUME II PART II. STATE RESPONSES TO WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS FOR THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF ABORTION IN ARGENTINA, CHILE AND URUGUAY ............................................................................................................279 CHAPTER 6. THE IMPACT OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN URUGUAY .................................................................................................282 6.1. Uruguay’s Women’s Movement ...........................................................................283 6.2. Systematizing State Response ...............................................................................306 6.3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................323 CHAPTER 7. THE IMPACT OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN ARGENTINA..............................................................................................326 7.1. Argentina’s Women’s Movement .........................................................................328 7.2. Systematizing State Response ...............................................................................364 v 7.3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................384 CHAPTER 8. THE IMPACT OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ON STATE POLICY IN CHILE .........................................................................................................386 8.1. Chile’s Women’s Movement ................................................................................389 8.2. The Concertación and the Issue of Abortion .........................................................395 8.3. Systematizing State Response ...............................................................................417 8.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................427 CHAPTER 9. CONDITIONS FOR WOMEN’S MOVEMENT SUCCESS ...................430 9.1. Movement Strength ..............................................................................................431 9.2. Political Allies .......................................................................................................453 9.3. Conclusion .............................................................................................................495 CHAPTER 10. ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS .....................................................501 10.1. The Role of Public Opinion ...............................................................................502 10.2. The Role of International Factors ........................................................................515