Challenges of Party-Building in Latin America

Steven Levitsky, James Loxton, Brandon Van Dyck, Jorge I. Domínguez

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781107145948
• eBook ISBN: 9781108110655
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgments
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• Part I Party–Voter Linkages and Challenges of Brand-Building
• Part II Challenges of Organization-.Building
• Part III Organizational Inheritance: Alternative Platforms for Party-Building
• Part IV Failed Cases (and a Future One)
• Bibliography
• Index