Title
Inside Revolutionary Parties: Coalition-Building and Maintenance in Reformist Bolivia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2017
Department
Political Science
Language
English
Publication Title
Comparative Political Studies
Abstract
This article explores the coalitional success of mass-mobilizing, reformist parties once they achieve power. Why are some of these parties more successful than others at managing the potentially conflicting interests of their diverse social bases? We argue that organizational strategies adopted early on matter greatly. The nature of the party’s core constituency, together with the linkage strategies undertaken by party leaders in crafting a coalition of support, shapes a party’s ability to maintain that coalition over time. When coalitional partners are intensively rather than extensively integrated, they are more likely to compromise over policy disagreements rather than defect when defection becomes attractive. We develop this theory by comparing the evolution of two Bolivian parties: the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement and the Movement Toward Socialism. Against conventional explanations that are overly dependent upon structural factors, our argument stresses the impact of strategic choices in shaping a party’s ability to maintain its coalition.
DOI
10.1177/0010414016666860
Recommended Citation
Anria, Santiago, and Jennifer Cyr. "Inside Revolutionary Parties: Coalition-Building and Maintenance in Reformist Bolivia." Comparative Political Studies 50, no. 9 (2017): 1255-1287. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0010414016666860
Comments
For more information on the published version, visit SAGE's Website.