2026-04-19T16:08:10Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:10230/549832025-12-20T16:40:43Zcom_2072_6col_2072_452952

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Bianculli, Andrea C. author 2022-11-23T10:38:21Z 2022 Two elements define regional integration in Latin America: its extension in time and its plurality. Analyses abound regarding the drivers underlying regional cooperation, the specific institutional design, its effects, and impact. However, studies have not yet provided full answers to the question of how regional institutions emerge and change through time in Latin America. To investigate this rather underexplored issue, I contribute a dynamic analytical framework whereby interests and ideas are taken as factors that interact with each other within a specified institutional environment, thus shaping processes of institutional creation, change and development. The argument advanced is that whereas the role of states and presidents remains constant, ideas and the existing regional organisations face presidents with either limitations or resources depending on the degree of synergy and convergence between states’ material interests and regional ideas and institutions. Based on the particular ideational and institutional configuration, three patterns of change may emerge: creation, conversion, and layering. The paper draws on comparative regionalism and institutionalism studies and empirically explores more than 25 years of regional cooperation in Latin America. Focus is on the comparative assessment of the Common Market of the South and the Union of South American Nations. This research was funded through the project ‘Regional Social Regulation in Latin America: A New Agenda for Development? Prospects and Challenges (SociAL-Reg) (CSO2015-66411-P), Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. Comparative regionalism Institutional formation and change Latin America MERCOSUR Regional organisations UNASUR Regionalism and regional organisations: exploring the dynamics of institutional formation and change in Latin America