Book
Abstract: Why do some parties formed by social movements develop top-down structures while others stay more open and responsive to their social bases? The first rigorous comparative study of movement-based parties, this book shows not only how movements can form parties but also how movements contribute to parties' internal politics and shape organizational party models over the long term. Although the existing literature argues that movement-based parties will succumb to professionalization and specialization, I shod that this is not inevitable or preordained through an in-depth examination of the unusual and counterintuitive development of Bolivia's MAS. To test the generalizability of key arguments, I then compare the evolution of the MAS with that of other parties formed by social movements, including Brazil's PT and Uruguay's FA. In a region where successful new parties of any type have been rare, these three parties are remarkable for their success. Yet, despite their similar origins, they differ sharply in their organizational models and relationships with their social bases.
- When Movements Become Parties: The Bolivian MAS in Comparative Perspective, New York: Cambridge University Press, Studies in Comparative Politics Series, 2018. [URL]
Abstract: Why do some parties formed by social movements develop top-down structures while others stay more open and responsive to their social bases? The first rigorous comparative study of movement-based parties, this book shows not only how movements can form parties but also how movements contribute to parties' internal politics and shape organizational party models over the long term. Although the existing literature argues that movement-based parties will succumb to professionalization and specialization, I shod that this is not inevitable or preordained through an in-depth examination of the unusual and counterintuitive development of Bolivia's MAS. To test the generalizability of key arguments, I then compare the evolution of the MAS with that of other parties formed by social movements, including Brazil's PT and Uruguay's FA. In a region where successful new parties of any type have been rare, these three parties are remarkable for their success. Yet, despite their similar origins, they differ sharply in their organizational models and relationships with their social bases.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- "Agents of Representation: The Organic Connection between Society and Leftist Parties in Bolivia and Uruguay" (with Verónica Pérez Bentancur, Rafael Piñeiro Rodríguez, and Fernando Rosenblatt). Politics & Society, 2021. [URL]
- “The Participatory Politics of Social Policies: The Cases of Bolivia and Brazil" (with Sara Niedzwiecki), Latin American Politics
and Society, 61, Special Issue 2: State Transformation and Participatory Politics in Latin America (2019): 115-137. [URL] - "Inside Revolutionary Parties: Coalition-Building and Maintenance in Reformist Bolivia" (with Jennifer Cyr), Comparative Political Studies 50 (9) (2017): 1255-87. [PDF]
- “Democratizing Democracy? Civil Society and Party Organization in Bolivia," Comparative Politics 4 (2016): 459-78. [PDF]
- "Delegative Democracy Revisited: More Inclusion, Less Liberalism in Bolivia," the Journal of Democracy 27 (2016): 99–108. [PDF]
- "Social Movements and Social Policy: The Bolivian Renta Dignidad" (with Sara Niedzwiecki), Studies in Comparative International Development 51 (3) (2016): 308-327. [PDF]
- "Social Movements, Party Organization, and Populism: Insights from the Bolivian MAS," Latin American Politics and Society 55 (3) (2013): 19-46. [PDF]
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
- “Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism (MAS): A Political Party Based on and Anchored in Social Movements." In Diminished Parties: Democratic Representation in Contemporary Latin America. Eds. Juan Pablo Luna, Rafael Piñeiro, Fernando Rosenblatt, and Gabriel Vommaro. NY: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
- "Bolivia's MAS: Between Party and Movement." In Latin America's Left Turns: Politics, Policies, and Trajectories of Change, 101-125. Eds. Maxwell A. Cameron and Eric Hershberg. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010. [PDF]
- “Bolivia: Democracia en Construcción" (lead author with: Agustín Goenaga, Maxwell A. Cameron, Carlos Toranzo Roca, and Moira Zuazo). In Democracia en la región andina, 243-272. Eds. Maxwell A. Cameron and Juan Pablo Luna. Lima, Peru: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2010. [PDF in Spanish]
Other Short Publications
- "The Key to Evo Morales' Political Longevity: Why He's Outlasted Other Latin American Left-Wing Leaders" (with Evelyne Huber), Foreign Affairs, February 14, 2018. [URL]
- "Evo Morales wants to change the law so he can remain president. Is Bolivia's Democracy in Danger," The Monkey Cage, November 28, 2017. [URL]
- "Bolivia: Implications of Referendum for Democracy and the MAS," AULA Blog, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University, January 19 2016. [URL]
- Review of "The Political Empowerment of the Cocaleros of Bolivia and Peru," by Ursula Durand Ochoa. Latin American Politics and Society (spring 2016). [URL]
- "Bolivia: Lessons from the MAS," AULA Blog, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University, July 16 2014. [URL]
- "Argentina's Mid-term Elections: the beginning of the end for Cristina?" (with Federico Fuchs), AULA Blog, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University, October 15 2013. [URL]
- “Ecuador: Correa‘s Citizens‘ Revolution" (with Santiago Basabe Serrano, Jason Tockman and Maxwell A. Cameron). Flash Report, Andean Democracy Research Network, University of British Columbia, June 2009. [PDF]
Under Progress
- “Democracy and the Left Turn in Latin America" (with Ken Roberts, book manuscript in preparation)
- “Sustaining Movement Gains: Activists and Policy Trajectories in Latin America" (with Candelaria Garay and Jessica Rich, article in preparation).
- “The Two Sides of Party-Society Linkages: Social and Political Inclusion in Latin America" (with Juan Bogliaccini, article under review).
- “Parties, Movements, and Institutional Resiliency: Lessons from Latin America’s Left Turn" (with Kenneth Roberts, article under review).
- "The Paradoxes of Bolivian Democracy: Inclusion and Contestation in Tension" (with Jennifer Cyr). [PDF]