Party Brands in Crisis: Partisanship, Brand Dilution, and the Breakdown of Political Parties in Latin America

His dissertation, on which this book is based, won the Gabriel A. . Noam Lupu is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Trice Faculty Scholar at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, P

This is a book every scholar of parties will want to read. It will be a must-read not only for scholars of Latin American politics but for anyone interested in political parties." Steven Levitsky, Harvard University, Massachusetts"Lupu provides here a very significant contribution to the literature on political parties, and especially to our understanding of Latin American politics. It promises to help reshape the way we think and talk about party labels and partisan loyalty." Allen Hicken, University of Michigan"Party Brands in Crisis may be the most important book on Latin American parties publi

During the 1980s and 1990s, political elites across the region implemented policies inconsistent with the traditional positions of their party, provoked internal party conflicts, and formed strange-bedfellow alliances with traditional rivals. These actions diluted party brands and eroded voter attachment. Why have so many established political parties across Latin America collapsed in recent years? Party Brands in Crisis offers an explanation that highlights the effect of elite actions on voter behavior. Without the assured support of a partisan base, parties became more susceptible to short-term retrospective voting, and voters without party attachments deserted incumbent parties when they performed poorly. Party Brands in Crisis offers the first general explanation of party breakdown in Latin America, reinforcing the interaction between elite behavior and mass attitudes.

Nick said Five Stars. Hands down the best book on Latin American politics I have ever read.