Synopses & Reviews
Based on extensive original research and detailed historical case studies, this book links historical institutional analysis and social movement theory to a study of political systems in which new ethnic cleavages have emerged. It studies the surprising transformation of indigenous peoples' movements into viable political parties in the 1990s in four Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) and their failure to succeed in two others (Argentina, Peru). The study concludes with the democratic implications of the emergence of this phenomenon in the context of declining public support for parties.
Review
"In a clear and well-written treatment, Van Cott ... asks why ethnic parties emerged in the 1990s and why they experienced different levels of success.... This is a crucial resource for understanding contemporary indigenous politics."
Choice
Review
"In this magnificent landmark study, Van Cott establishes herself as the preeminent empiricist on and advocate for ethnic parties in South America."
Foreign Affairs
Review
"Because of the great complexity of indigenous politics in Latin America, rarely does scholarship on this topic venture beyond one or two country cases. Donna Lee Van Cott's systematic comparison of indigenous politics across six countries is therefore a courageous and welcome contribution to the growing literature on this topic."
International Affairs
Review
"Donna Lee Van Cott has been a pioneer in the study of indigenous people's politics in Latin America. Her new book is an important contribution to the study of political parties, especially to the questions of why indigenous parties form and succeed or fail to...From Movement to Parties is very well researched, clearly and persuasively argued, and well written. It is essential reading for political scientists who work on ethnic parties, social movements, and Latin America."
Political Science Quarterly
Review
"Van Cott's book is the first in-depth analysis that analyzes ethnic party emergence by rigorously comparing the primary cases of both successful and failed formation.... The book is extremely thorough, providing excellent, in-depth discussions ... arguably provid[ing] the single best current source of information on indegous political parties in Latin America."
Moblization
Review
"Innovatively blending institutional analysis with social movement theories, Van Cott highlights the importance of access to new constitutional rights, the maturity and unity of indigenous social movements, cross-country diffusion, and indigenous participation in the constitutional reform process. It is at this conjunction of institutional and social movement theories that the author's thesis is most original and strong....Van Cott's work presents an impressive cross-national comparison of the timely issue of indigenous movements, politics, and their intersection with the decline of political parties, democratic opening, and protests against neoliberalism."
Rebecca Meyers, Brown University, Latin American Politics and Society
Review
"...make[s] remarkable contributions to our understanding of contemporary Latin American politics....Van Cott makes her case through a reconstruction of the historical formation and recent changes of the institutional structures that mediate the relations among the dominant elites and between the elites and subordinate indigenous populations."
Pablo Andrade, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Perspectives on Politics
Review
"Likewise, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that she places indigenous ethnicity as an important variable in the process of democratic reconstruction and possibly even democratic renewal in Latin America demonstrates an important level of scholarly originality that renders this work a refreshing overview of the possible links between ethnic and party politics in Latin America."
Canadian Journal of Political Science
Synopsis
Explains the formation in the 1990s of successful political parties in four Latin American countries.
Synopsis
This book explains the formation in the 1990s by indigenous peoples' movements of successful political parties in four Latin American countries. It contributes to scholarly understanding of ethnic political cleavages, indigenous political mobilization, and the transformation of party systems and political representations in contemporary Latin America. It is the only book-length study of Latin America ethnic parties. This volume presents a wealth of data that has not been published before, particularly on the under-studied cases of Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela.
About the Author
Donna Lee Van Cott is associate professor of political science and Latin American studies at Tulane University. She is author of The Friendly Liquidation of the Past: The Politics of Diversity in Latin America (2000), editor of Indigenous Peoples and Democracy in Latin America (1994), and has published more than a dozen articles on related topics. She has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship as well as a residential fellowship from the Helen Kellogg Institute of International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Van Cott is the founding chair of the section on Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples of the Latin American Studies Association.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: toward a comprehensive theory of ethnic party formation and performance; 2. Institutions, party systems, and social movements; 3. 'A reflection of our motley reality': Bolivian Indians' slow path to political representation; 4. 'We are the government': Pachakutik's rapid ascent to national power; 5. 'It is not a priority': the failure to form viable ethnic parties in Peru; 6. Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela: unlikely cases of ethnic party formation and success; 7. Conclusions and Implications.