The Political Power of Latin American Foreign Ministries: A Study of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, 1946 – 2008

This paper investigates the sources of foreign ministries’ political power. Such sources are different from other state bureaucracies, as foreign policy has little dependence on legislative bills and opaque impact on citizens’ daily lives. Hence, it is easier for the foreign ministry to control its policy area than for other ministries. This expectation is contingent on the degree of professionalization of the diplomatic corps, which allows the foreign ministry to influence the chief executive and to contest other players’ policy preferences. To verify it, we quantify the degree of diplomatic professionalization in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico in 1946-2008 regarding diplomats’ recruitment criteria and career path, influence of diplomatic schools and doctrines, appointment patterns of foreign ministers, and relevance of presidential diplomacy. We then check whether a stronger foreign ministry generates more consistency in foreign policy. Our tests use convergence with the US on UN General Assembly votes as dependent variable.