Scielo RSS http://socialsciences.scielo.org/rss.php?pid=0797-978920060002&lang=pt vol. 2 num. SE lang. pt http://socialsciences.scielo.org/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://socialsciences.scielo.org http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0797-97892006000200001&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=pt The aim of this article is to analyze the alternation of political parties in government, which has taken place in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay since the democratic transition and until now. This paper takes into account the hypotheses that link changes in party systems with the dynamic of ideological competition among them. This paper is also aimed at shedding light on the impact of the government processes on the ideological dynamics of the party system, particularly, the impact produced on the polarization level of the system since leftist ideological parties came to power. http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0797-97892006000200002&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=pt In the last few years Basic Universalism has become one of the main topics in the agenda of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) concerning social rights in South America. It is stated that Basic Universalism (BU) allows for a better allocation of social public expenditure by first focusing it on the universalization of basic social services of good quality, and then moving towards complete universalization. In this paper I claim that the establishment and effective implementation of BU do not lead to the universalization of a great number of basic services of good quality and quantity, or to the progressive universalization of all the social benefits. On the contrary, I consider that it generates a tendency towards mercantilization in both levels, basic and non basic. At the same time, it stimulates the decrease in quantity and quality of free basic services, with the consequent reproduction, in the access to both basic and non basic social benefits, of inequalities in income, produced by labor and financial markets. http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0797-97892006000200003&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=pt On the assumption that culture matters, this paper explores the behavior of some cultural hypotheses, at the supply and demand levels, as explanations of women under-representation in public office, trying to point out the methodological precautions needed when gender analyses are carried out. The article lies on a theoretical perspective which claims the main causes of the low feminine presence in politics are related to structural factors for which there would be, however, political "solutions".