Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America's Left Turn

Latin American history suggests that democracy is only possible when it is safe for elites. This book examines the complex relationship of the Left, the Right, and democracy through the lens of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia. It finds that such measures were more successful in Venezuela than Bolivia, regardless of which type of party held office, but that deepening democracy is much more likely under a left party.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 18 July 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Latin American history suggests that democracy is only possible when it is safe for elites. Right-wing forces have repeatedly deposed elected governments that challenged the rich and accepted democracy only after the defanging of the Left and widespread market reform. The recent "left turn" in Latin America has raised the question of how the Right would react if democracy threatened elite interests.

This book examines the complex relationship of the Left, the Right, and democracy through the lens of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia. Drawing on two years of fieldwork, Gabriel Hetland compares attempts at participatory reform in cities governed by the Left and Right in each country. He finds that such measures were more successful in Venezuela than Bolivia regardless of which type of party held office, though existing research suggests that deepening democracy is much more likely under a left party. Hetland accounts for these findings by arguing that Venezuela's ruling party achieved hegemony, presenting its ideas as the ideas of all, while Bolivia's ruling party did not. The Venezuelan Right was compelled to act on the Left's political terrain; this pushed it to implement participatory reform in an unexpectedly robust way. In Bolivia, demobilization of popular movements led to an inhospitable environment for local democratic deepening under any party.

Democracy on the Ground shows that, just as right-wing hegemony can reshape the Left, leftist hegemony can reshape the Right. Offering new perspectives on participation, populism, and Latin American politics, this book challenges widespread ideas about the constraints on democracy.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231207706