Americas Quarterly

Americas Quarterly

The Fall 2013 cover of Americas Quarterly on Free Speech in the Americas
Editor-in-Chief	Brian Winter
Former editors	Christopher Sabatini
Categories	Western Hemisphere, Latin America, Foreign Policy, Politics, Current Events
Frequency	Quarterly
Total circulation (2013)	17,000[1]
First issue	2007
Company	Americas Society and Council of the Americas
Country	United States
Based in	New York
Language	English
Website
ISSN	1936-797x

Americas Quarterly is an AAM audited magazine^[2] dedicated to politics, economics and culture in the Western Hemisphere, with a focus on Latin America.

Launched in 2007, AQ reaches over 17,000 readers ^[3] and is published by Americas Society and Council of the Americas. The journal covers a wide range of topics including health care; trafficking and transnational crime; poverty, inequality, and social mobility; freedom of expression; natural resource extraction; sustainability and immigration.

Digital format

In addition to the print publication and digital edition, Americas Quarterly publishes daily updates to the journal in the form of Web Exclusive articles, multimedia features, and daily blog posts on its website.

In 2012, Americas Quarterly launched a mobile app, available for download in the App Store (iOS) and Google Play.

Distribution

Americas Quarterly is currently available at Barnes & Noble Bookstores. It is also distributed to American Airlines Admirals Club Rooms in each of the following cities: Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Mexico City, Mexico; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the business class lounges of US Airways, Delta and Taca Airlines; and U.S. embassies in the region.

AQ also has an established relationship with NTN24, an online news channel from Colombia with 3 million viewers, to broadcast stories on topics from Americas Quarterly.Topics from AQ are also discussed on NTN’s program Efecto Naím, with host Moisés Naím.^[4]

Social Inclusion Index

AQ's annual Social Inclusion Index^[5] currently evaluates 17 countries on across 21 variables including access to public and private goods, popular attitudes toward empowerment and government responsiveness, and the protection of basic civil, political, and human, and disability rights as well as access to justice. The Index tracks social inclusion within and across countries over the long-term, addressing the multiple dimensions of social inclusion, and drawing on existing statistical data sources including the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) at Vanderbilt University; World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion Index; UNDP Human Development Report; and World Bank’s Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean (SEDLAC).

Each variable in the Index is scored by country, and countries are then ranked by overall score and by individual indicator. The Index serves to help broaden the debate—and scholarship—on this crucial issue, providing a platform for debate and discussion about social inclusion in the region.

2012 Index

The inaugural Social Inclusion Index^[6] was released in the Spring 2012 issue of Americas Quarterly'ranking 15 variables across 12 countries. The United States was not included in the relative ranking in this edition. The 2012 rankings were:

1. Chile 2. Uruguay 3. Brazil 4. Ecuador

4. Peru 5. Colombia 6. Bolivia 6. Mexico

7. Paraguay 8. Nicaragua 9. Guatemala

2013 Index

In 2013, the Index^[7] added four new Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama) and new indicators for financial inclusion, LGBT rights and women’s rights. It also disaggregated many of the previous indicators by gender and race.

In this edition, Uruguay was the only country to increase its score and surpassed Chile to be ranked first in social inclusion. In total, nine countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru) moved down in the Index. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and the United States were included in the overall rankings for the first time. The 2013 rankings were:

1. Uruguay 2. Chile 3. United States 4. Costa Rica

5. Brazil 6. Ecuador 7. Peru 8. Panama

9. Colombia 10. Bolivia 11. Mexico 12. El Salvador

13. Nicaragua 14. Paraguay 15. Honduras 16. Guatemala

2014 Index

The 2014 Index added new indicators for disability rights and access to justice and included Argentina for the first time.

In this edition, Uruguay was ranked first in social inclusion for the second year in a row. In total, only two countries (Costa Rica and Peru) improved their score from 2013 while 11 (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, and the United States) moved down in the Index. Only Bolivia, Nicaragua and Uruguay maintained the same rank. The 2014 rankings were:

1. Uruguay 2. Argentina 2. Costa Rica 4. United States 5. Chile

6. Peru 7. Ecuador 8. Brazil 9. Panama 10. Bolivia

11. Colombia 12. Mexico 13. Nicaragua 14. El Salvador 15. Paraguay

16. Honduras 17. Guatemala

Reception

The 2014 Social Inclusion Index generated major press coverage both in the U.S. and throughout Latin America including: The Washington Post,^[8] NBC,^[9] The Christian Science Monitor,^[10] The Wall Street Journal,^[11] Forbes,^[12] Voxxi,^[13] El País,^[14] Voz de América,^[15] among others. The press release was also featured in Reuters ^[16] and Bloomberg Businessweek.^[17]

Notable contributors

Notable contributors to Americas Quarterly include:

Michelle Bachelet Fernando Henrique Cardoso Jorge Castañeda Gutman Julian Castro Bill Clinton

Edwidge Danticat Junot Díaz Paul Farmer Bill Gates John Kerry

Ban Ki-moon Ricardo Lagos José Antonio Ocampo Moisés Naím Shannon K. O'Neil

Dani Rodrik Marina Silva Hernando de Soto Polar Admiral James Stravidis Ernesto Zedillo

Editorial Board

Gustavo Arnavat Juan Carlos Cappello Fernando Henrique Cardoso John Henry Coatsworth Javier Corrales

Karin Digbyana Richard Feinberg Sam Fouad Ricardo Lagos Maria Victoria Murillo

Moisés Naím Patricio Navia Jorge Pinto Marcelo Prieto Jeffrey Schott

Edward Schumacher-Matos Ken Shadlen Matias Spektor Federico Sturzenegger Alejandro Toledo

Richard Thoman Ernesto Zedillo

References

1. "About". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
2. Archived November 11, 2014 at the Wayback Machine
3. "About". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
4. "Americas Quarterly | Efecto Naim | EFECTO NAIM | NTN24". Efecto Naim. 2013-07-12. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
5. "AQ Interactive: The Social Inclusion Index 2014". Americasquarterly.org. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
6. "AQ Interactive: The Social Inclusion Index". Americasquarterly.org. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
7. http://americasquarterly.org/charticles/Social_Inclusion_Index_2013/overview.html
8. Tharoor, Ishaan (2014-07-29). "One chart that explains the U.S. border crisis". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
9. Passy, Jacob. "Uruguay, Argentina Top Social Inclusion Index". NBC News. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
10. "What do 'social inclusion' rankings tell us about the child migrant crisis? - Dramatic social disparity across the Americas". CSMonitor.com. 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
11. Jul 31, 2014 (2014-07-31). "How U.S. Compares to Latin America on Civil Rights - The Numbers - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
12. "Brazil Might Not Be As Bad As Brazilians Think". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
13. "WordPress.com". Voxxi.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
14. "La violencia contra mujeres y menores lastra la inclusión social en Latinoamérica | Internacional | EL PAÍS". Elpais.com. 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
15. "Índice 2014: Exclusión hasta en EE.UU". Voanoticias.com. 2014-08-25. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
16. Reuters Editorial (2014-07-29). "Americas Quarterly Social Inclusion Index 2014". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
17. "World Stock Markets & Stock Index Performance - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.

External links

• Official website