This articles analyzes the relationship between democratic political regimes and regional integration. The main argument is that the thesis that argues that greater political convergence with other leftist regimes of the region will promote the deepening of South American integration contains a paradox that has yet to be explored. Although it is arguable that leftist governments have greater propensity toward conferring political support to South American regionalism, it is also true that Leftist presidentialist regimes have no lesser propensity to the supra-nationalization of norms and handing sovereignty over to supra-national organizations. This article presents a brief review of the literature on the relationship between domestic politics (political regimes and parties) and the production of foreign policy. Relying on these discussions, the topic of commercial agreements within South American electoral campaigns is analyzed, with emphasis on the Brazilian case.
international integration; foreign policy; elections; Latin America; leftist governments
