Party Vibrancy and Democracy in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Exit Barriers ◽  
Electoral Cycles ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Active Organization

How do political parties remain vibrant organizations? This qualitative study of political parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay explains how party vibrancy is maintained and reproduced over time. A vibrant party is an active organization that operates beyond electoral cycles, has clear symbols, and maintains a significant presence in the territory. The study identifies the complex interaction between four causal factors that account for the reproduction of party vibrancy: Purpose, Trauma, Channels of Ambition, and moderate Exit Barriers. Purpose activates retrospective loyalty among members. Trauma refers to a shared traumatic past that engenders retrospective loyalty. Channels of Ambition are routes by which individuals can pursue a political career. Moderate Exit Barriers are rules that set costs of defection at reasonable levels. The case studies suggest that, after a process of consolidation and stability, the presence of the four causal factors explains party vibrancy. The presence of the factors then sustains the reproduction of this vibrancy over time. The four causal factors are observed during a party’s “golden age.” Vibrant parties are resilient. Yet the study also shows that the ability of Trauma to forge loyalty decreases over time and that the long-term reproduction of Purpose can be elusive, as has been shown in Latin America. Older vibrant parties thus exhibit a combination of only Channels of Ambition and moderate Exit Barriers, and are less resilient than those that also have Purpose and/or Trauma.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Exit Barriers ◽  
Over Time

This chapter presents and develops the research question, What explains the ability of a given party to remain a vibrant organization over time and across junctures? It defines the dependent variable as party vibrancy, and presents the four hypothesized causal factors: Purpose, Trauma, Channels of Ambition, and moderate Exit Barriers. The literature on political parties is among the oldest in political science. Hence, the chapter engages in a dialogue with the literature, in order to establish the theoretical foundation of this research. The chapter also considers rival empirical hypotheses and develops the main aspects of the qualitative case study research that guided the empirical assessment.

Political Parties, Regimes, and Social Cleavages

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Riedl
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
Social Cleavages ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
Antecedent Conditions ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Over Time

Historical institutionalism is central to the study of political parties because party creation, competition, and adaptation are fundamentally processes structured over time. In these processes, time and sequence frequently are necessary components of causal arguments in understanding contemporary political outcomes. An historical approach to party politics highlights how, in particular moments, agency and contingency can generate long-term legacies, whereas in other moments party systems are resilient to elite attempts to re-order competition. Historical institutionalist arguments identify the mechanisms that sustain particular outcomes over time, and demonstrate when change occurs, according to which constraints, opportunities, and antecedent conditions.

Costa Rica

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Organization ◽  
Critical Effect ◽  
Exit Barriers

This chapter analyzes the trajectory of the major political parties in Costa Rica: PLN, PUSC, PAC, and, more briefly, ML and Frente Amplio. The chapter reviews the critical effect of the 1948 civil war on the consolidation of Trauma. It also shows how the effect on vibrancy of Trauma—that is, collective suffering—differs from the effect of individual (still, political) suffering. The long-term trajectory of the PLN illustrates the gradual erosion of Trauma and the loss of Purpose. The chapter further discusses how the intersection of Channels of Ambition and moderate Exit Barriers engenders a weaker level of vibrancy. Finally, the analysis of the PUSC is one of the clearest examples of rapid organizational deterioration, and the first years of the PAC as a party organization highlight the challenges of consolidating a vibrant party in the absence of a defined Purpose.

scholarly journals How Stable Is Political Parties’ Issue Ownership? A Cross-Time, Cross-National Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 475-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Bech Seeberg
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Issue Ownership ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Know How ◽  
Comprehensive Data ◽  
National Analysis ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Cross National

Research on issue ownership is accelerating and so is its use in studies of voting and party behaviour. Yet we do not know how stable issue ownership is. Does it describe a solid, persistent association between a party and an issue in the eyes of the electorate, or does it describe a more fluid and fragile issue reputation of a party among the electorate? Theoretical and empirical work suggests both stability and variability in issue ownership. To get closer to an answer, this article presents and analyses unprecedented comprehensive data on issue ownership. The analysis identifies stability rather than change in issue ownership over time and similarity more than difference across countries, and therefore suggests that issue ownership is a general and long-term rather than a local and short-term phenomenon. The implications for how voters perceive parties are important.

External Appeal, Internal Dominance: How Party Leaders Contribute to Successful Party Building

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Van Dyck
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
New Left ◽  
Brand Strength ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Party Building ◽  
Democratic Revolution

AbstractMany successful political parties depend for their initial popularity and cohesion, and even for their long-term brand strength, on a leader. Nevertheless, literature on successful party building downplays the role of leaders. Thus, the question, what type of leader is good for party building?, remains undertheorized. This article presents and provides initial evidence for a leadership-centered theory of successful party building. It argues that externally appealing, internally dominant leaders facilitate party building by lifting new parties to electoral prominence and helping to prevent debilitating schisms. The article provides evidence for this argument through a most similar cases comparison of three new left parties in Latin America: two that took root (Brazil’s Workers’ Party, Mexico’s Party of the Democratic Revolution), and one that collapsed (Peru’s United Left).

Democratization and the Institutionalization of Latin American Political Parties

1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT H. DIX
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Latin American Region ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Over Time ◽  
American Region

In this article, the author assesses the prospects for the consolidation of democracy in Latin America in the 1990s, compared with the failure to achieve that goal in the 1960s, by examining the institutionalization of political parties in the two time periods. Samuel Huntington's criteria of institutionalization (adaptability, complexity, autonomy, and coherence) are used and employ a variety of indicators (some empirical, some more judgmental) to assess the degree of change between the 1960s and the 1980s. He concludes that, although there is significant variation among countries, for the majority of them, and for the Latin American region as a whole, political parties have indeed become somewhat more institutionalized over time, thereby modestly enhancing the prospects for the consolidation of democracy in the 1990s.

The Turn of the Cycles

2020 ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Jack M. Balkin
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Good News ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Sexuality And Religion ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
Over Time

In the emerging party system, the Democrats will probably be the dominant party. The two major political parties will face off over identity issues like race, sexuality, and religion, but each party will be internally divided over issues of class and economic inequality. These fissures will become more pronounced over time and provide a long-term path for depolarization. Because each party will have a populist and a neoliberal wing, new forms of cross-party alliances will become possible—although the Democrats will remain more economically egalitarian than the Republicans for the foreseeable future. Whoever figures out how to create these cross-party coalitions will drive the direction of reform. The next regime will probably be turbulent and politics will be anything but peaceful. Real change that breaks the stranglehold of economic inequality will only come from difficult times that still lay ahead. The good news is that the cycles of constitutional time are slowly turning. The elements of renewal are available, if people have the courage to use them.

Chile

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Exit Barriers ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
Negative Effect

This chapter analyzes the major Chilean political parties: PSCh, DC, RN, UDI, and PPD. Chile has had stable parties for an extended period, and some of its parties have had long trajectories. Since the 2000s, the country has witnessed a process of party decay. The UDI is the only party where, at the time of fieldwork, all causal factors were observed, and it was also the only vibrant party. The chapter highlights the waning effect of Trauma, shows the potential trade-off between Trauma and Channels of Ambition, and illustrates the deleterious effect of the absence of Purpose for the reproduction of party vibrancy. Also, as other scholars have shown, the Chilean institutional setting, before the electoral reforms of 2015, demonstrates the negative effect of high Exit Barriers on party vibrancy. Finally, the chapter closes with a discussion of events circa 2015–2016 that have accelerated the process of organizational decay.

All Things Considered

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Exit Barriers ◽  
Perceived Benefit ◽  
Over Time

This chapter, which closes Part II, synthesizes the empirical findings and returns to the theoretical argument. First, it presents the different conjunctions of causal factors that explain party vibrancy. Every combination accounting for party vibrancy includes moderate Exit Barriers. After the party institutionalizes and all factors have consolidated, moderate Exit Barriers facilitate collective action by reducing incentives to defect. However, to sustain vibrancy, moderate Exit Barriers must interact at least with Channels of Ambition. Such channels activate the party’s perceived benefit for individuals, who expect the party to satisfy their political ambitions. If Channels of Ambition are not present, Trauma and Purpose are necessary components for party vibrancy. The joint presence of the theorized factors then sustains reproduction of this vibrancy over time. The chapter also presents a stylized trajectory, or “life cycle,” of party vibrancy and of the theorized causal factors. Finally, it briefly discusses cases of lack of vibrancy.

Policy Coordination under Minority and Majority Rule

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Persson
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Majority Rule ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Before And After ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Over Time

This chapter analyzes mechanisms for policy coordination inside and outside Sweden’s Government Offices. It looks at how governments of different types have coordinated their policies, and focuses on the mechanisms used by single-party minority governments and by coalition minority and majority governments. Over time, Swedish political parties have developed methods for achieving stable, long-term cooperation, and these methods have become increasingly formalized and institutionalized. Coordination at the national level takes place both before and after elections, and tends to blur the boundary between majority and minority governments. These new patterns of cooperation pose new challenges to the government’s ability to coordinate policy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document