The Fates of Political Parties: Crises, Continuity, and Change in Latin America

What happens to a party that experiences this kind of voter rejection? The literature suggests it will disappear, leaving the party system vulnerable to the inexperience of new political actors. The Fates of Political Parties offers a more nuanced perspective: focusing on a number of individual Latin American countries as well as the region as a whole, it identifies considerable variation regarding how parties survive and even revive after an electoral crisis. Where they endure, those parties can sustain competition and strengthen the democratic regime.. Political parties in the developing world often face serious electoral crises; from one election to the next, parties can be decisively voted out of national office. The book revitalizes the study of parties as complex entities that rely on a potentially diverse set of resources to remain active in politics. It demonstrates that parties can be remarkably enduring

Her research focuses on political representation, identity, and democratization in Latin America. Jennifer Cyr is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Latin American studies at the University of Arizona.

Conceptualizing parties as complex entities, this book shows that we need to think expansively not just about the nature of the organizational and ideological resources potentially available to parties, but also about the range of functions they perform in democracy.' Kent Eaton, University of California, Santa Cruz . An essential contribution to the literature.' Maxwell A. It is essential reading not only for scholars specializing in Latin American politics, but for anyone interested in understanding why some parties persist.' Raúl L. Jennifer Cyr carefully shows how high-cost organizational and ideational resources, such as party branches, militants, ideologies, and brands, shape the destiny of parties in crisis contexts. The book provides compelling evidence for the importance of subnational politics, the power of ideas, and the capacities of parties to rein