Challenges of Party-Building in Latin America

Description

Nearly four decades since the onset of the third wave, political parties remain weak in Latin America: parties have collapsed in much of the region, and most new party-building efforts have failed. Why do some new parties succeed while most fail? This book challenges the widespread belief that democracy and elections naturally give rise to strong parties and argues that successful party-building is more likely to occur under conditions of intense conflict than under routine democracy. Periods of revolution, civil war, populist mobilization, or authoritarian repression crystallize partisan attachments, create incentives for organization-building, and generate a 'higher cause' that attracts committed activists. Empirically rich chapters cover diverse cases from across Latin America, including both successful and failed cases.

Steven Levitsky is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government at Harvard University, Massachusetts. He is the author of Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge, 2003), coauthor of Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War (Cambridge, 2010), and co- editor of Argentine Democracy: The Politics of Institutional Weakness (2005), Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America (2006), and The Resurgence of the Latin American Left (2011). He is currently writing a book on the durability of revolutionary regimes. James Loxton is a Lecturer in Comparative Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, Massachusetts in 2014. He is currently writing a book on conservative party-building in Latin America and co-editing (with Scott Mainwaring) the volume Life after Dictatorship: Authoritarian Successor Parties Worldwide. Brandon Van Dyck is Assistant Professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania. He received his PhD from Harvard University, Massachusetts in 2014. He is currently writing a book on the divergent trajectories of Latin America's new left parties. His research has appeared in Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, and Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica. Jorge I. Dominguez is the Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico and was Vice Provost for International Affairs at Harvard University, Massachusetts from 2006-15. He is the author of Democratic Politics in Latin America and the Caribbean (1998), Cuba: Order and Revolution (1978) and Cuba hoy: Analizando su pasado, imaginando su futuro (2006). He is also author and co-editor of Cuban Economic and Social Development: Policy Reforms and Challenges in the 21st Century (2012). He is a past editor of the journal Cuban Studies and a past president of the Latin American Studies Association.

'[Challenges of Party-Building in Latin America] enhances knowledge about conditions for successful party-building in an era of great challenges to that enterprise. The authors include an attractive mix of distinguished senior scholars and excellent younger colleagues. ... Most of the chapters are very good and the best are outstanding.' Scott Mainwaring, ReVista