of the party. Second, the party controls the order of candidates' names as they appear on the list. This creates an atmosphere of competition within the party. Candidates are forced to play party politics while trying to shoulder out competitors. Seems rather two faced. Voters lose, as they cannot directly choose a presidential candidate, but only a party. Third, the party pools the votes among lists with districts. Parties that use closed lists automatically have this element too. This essay has focused on showing the differences between party politics in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. This group is representative of the entire spectrum of possibilities. Brazil tended to have minority governments in congress, a large number of effective parties, and low level of discipline. Uruguay tended to have minority governments with a significant plurality, few effective parties and moderately disciplined parties. Argentina tended to regularly employ minority governments without a significant majority has a low number of effective parties, although this is changing, and has a high degree of party discipline. Each of these countries has created these systems in order to ensure the government is as effective as possible, thereby, creating the best possible environment for the people. This essay will compare and contrast the party systems of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay according to Mainwaring and Shugart's Chapter 11 of Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America. First, I will discuss majority verses minority government; second, I will discuss the number of relevant parties; third, I will discuss the level of party discipline with the parties. In Presidential systems of government, the level of support for the president in congress, either through a majority or coalitions, influences the success of the regime to get things done. The amount of parties in a system indicates the likelihood the president will have a majo...
