Research Library

The 10 leading presidential candidates will earn a spot on the main stage at the Aug. 6 GOP debate on Fox News. Rick Perry may not make the cut.

Mexico Center director Tony Payan testifies before a House subcommittee on the major threats to the implementation of Mexico's energy reforms.

As the BRICS hold their seventh summit in Ufa, Russia this week, international economics fellow Russell Green and Rice student Elisabeth Kalomeris offer advice on designing the framework for the organization’s New Development Bank.

In a July 5 referendum, Greeks overwhelmingly rejected the terms of a bailout proposed by international creditors. Baker Institute Rice scholar Ted Temzelides blogs on the surprisingly strong vote against the rescue package, and what may lie ahead.

If past trends hold for Annise Parker’s successor, this fall Houstonians may well be in actuality electing the person who will guide the city until January 2022.

In April 2015, Chile passed a gender quota law as part of a larger reform to the country’s election laws. Quotas are not new to Latin America, and Chile is, in fact, one of the last countries in the region to adopt such a law. Yet, expectations for success must be tempered by what scholars know about making quotas effective for increasing women’s legislative representation. Analysis of gender quota laws in Latin America suggests that Chile’s quota may be less effective than proponents hope.

The current electoral labyrinth in Egypt continues to pose a significant challenge to creating a just and all-inclusive political system. Despite the myriad electoral reforms and constitutional amendments passed in the past four years, women continue to play a minor role in the decision-making process in postrevolutionary Egypt. The new constitution unveiled in early 2014 lacks a constitutional provision or a quota system that would guarantee equal political representation for women; this will negatively impact women’s ability to exert influence in the political arena.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is starting her second term in office facing economic and political problems that feed into each other. These problems can be attributed to a large extent to mistakes her administration made during her first term. Rousseff’s macroeconomic policy proved to be inconsistent, and the choices she made in some key economic sectors, especially energy, were demonstrably disastrous. Rousseff now faces the enormous challenge of reconciling the leftwing populism that led her to victory with the inescapable need to regain the trust of the most dynamic sectors of Brazilian society, including the private sector.

This year marks a turning point in Argentinian politics now that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner lacks the constitutional possibility of being reelected. And with the party system fragmented as it is, no candidate has a clear victory.