Institutional Change and Ethnic Parties in South America

The central question of this article is why indigenous social movements formed electorally viable political parties in Latin America in the 1990s. This development represents a new phenomenon in Latin America, where ethnic parties have been both rare and unpopular among voters. Institutional reforms...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Latin American politics and society 2003-07, Vol.45 (2), p.1-39
Main Author: Lee Van Cott, Donna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Case studies
Dependent variables
Election results
Electoral reform
Electoral systems
Ethnic Groups
Ethnic parties
Field study
Indigenous Populations
Institutional change
Institutions
Latin America
Local elections
Native peoples
Native rights
Political candidates
Political Change
Political Development
Political elections
Political movements
Political Parties
Political science
Political systems
Politics
Registration
Research design
Scientists
Social activism
Social Movements
South America
Success
Upper houses
Viability
Voter registration
Voting
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The central question of this article is why indigenous social movements formed electorally viable political parties in Latin America in the 1990s. This development represents a new phenomenon in Latin America, where ethnic parties have been both rare and unpopular among voters. Institutional reforms in six South American countries are examined to see if the creation and success of these parties can be correlated with changes in electoral systems, political party registration requirements, or the administrative structure of the state. The study concludes that institutional change is likely to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for the emergence and electoral viability of ethnic parties.
ISSN:1531-426X
1548-2456
DOI:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2003.tb00239.x