Suchergebnisse

In Party Vibrancy and Democracy in Latin America, Fernando Rosenblatt sheds new light on why some parties remain lively organizations that generate intense attachment over time. He concentrates on party performance in three of the region's more stable countries--Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay--because they are regarded as 'consolidated' democracies with records of good governance. Even in some of these countries, he shows, party instability is a problem.

How do political parties remain significant and vibrant organizations? This comparative study of political parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay explains how parties' vibrancy is maintained and reproduced over time. The study identifies the complex interaction between four causal conditions: Exit, Trauma, Purpose, and Ambition. These conditions are jointly sufficient for explaining the difference between two types of party survival, dynamic and static. Dynamic parties are more resilient. They are stable over time and, unlike statically surviving parties, also remain vibrant. When the four conditions are present, parties exhibit dynamic survival. Other combinations also explain this type of party survival, albeit to a lesser degree. The conjunction of Exit, Trauma, and Purpose is also sufficient for dynamic survival, as is Exit together with Ambition. These combinations, however, produce dynamic survival less reliably. Tracing these conditions historically over time in each party examined, the analysis also shows that Trauma and Purpose temporally precede Exit and Ambition. Collective organizations are more resilient and vibrant if they are first united by retrospective or prospective loyalty (respectively activated by Trauma and Purpose). However, Exit and Ambition need to then follow to facilitate a party's dynamic survival over time.

The recent surge of global populism has led many intellectuals to call for new forms of democratic elitism. Yet research into the sources of support for political organizations and regimes predicts that suppressing opportunities for public participation will likely exacerbate antisystem political tendencies. We cite the recent protests in Chile, a nation that has employed democratic elitism more effectively than perhaps any other, as illustrative of the eventual consequences of suppressing voice. Our research indicates that empowering citizens through vibrant parties and continuous democracy is the best way to avoid populist impulses and waves of contentious politics.

Party system institutionalization (PSI) is a critical dimension of modern democracies. However, conventional approaches to institutionalization do not include party systems' ability to adapt and respond to challenges that emanate from society, one of the crucial traits in Huntington's definition of institutionalization. We discuss conventional approaches to the analysis of PSI. Building upon the idea of social orders put forth by North, Wallis, and Weingast, we argue that the analysis of institutionalization at the level of party systems must consider the system's ability to provide open access and to include all sectors: that is, the system's ability to incorporate demands that emanate from society. We propose a new conceptualization and operationalization of PSI, and we present a new data set of PSI indicators for 18 Latin American countries. Finally, we analyze the data to assess the level of PSI and type of party system in each Latin American country.

In Latin America, institutions are either fragile or excessively strong. These are the main conclusions that can be inferred by looking at the institutionalist literature that focuses in the region. Although there are numerous studies about the effects of both traits, there are few analyses about the determinants that explain such results. Taking advantage of this theoretical vacuum, this paper introduces an analytical typology that build upon historical and rational choice institutionalism. We argue that to have better assessments of institutional stability and resilience it is critical to focus on the range and timing of the agreements reached by the agents involved in the institutional design. We claim that this focus will help understand institutional stability and instability as well as their degree of legitimacy. Adapted from the source document.

Political parties with activists are in decline due to various external shocks. Societal changes, like the emergence of new technologies of communication have diminished the role and number of activists, while party elites increasingly can make do without grassroots activists. However, recent scholarship concerning different democracies has shown how activism still matters for representation. This book contributes to this literature by analyzing the unique case of the Uruguayan Frente Amplio (FA), the only mass-organic, institutionalized leftist party in Latin America. Using thick description, systematic process tracing, and survey research, this case study highlights the value of an organization-centered approach for understanding parties' role in democracy. Within the FA, organizational rules grant activists a significant voice, which imbues activists' participation with a strong sense of efficacy. This book is an excellent resource for scholars and students of Latin America and comparative politics who are interested in political parties and the challenges confronting new democracies.