How Party Activism Survives
Uruguay's Frente Amplio

Explores the value of an organization-centered approach to understanding parties and their role in democratic representation.

Verónica Pérez Bentancur (Author), Rafael Piñeiro Rodríguez (Author), Fernando Rosenblatt (Author)

9781108485265, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 October 2019

216 pages
23.5 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.45 kg

'This book is an exemplary study of institutional stability and continuity. The authors tell a compelling story about why and how the FA has endured as a leftist, mass-organic party despite exogenous changes and endogenous challenges.' Jennifer Cyr, Latin American Politics and Society

Political parties with activists are in decline due to various external shocks. Societal changes, like the emergence of new technologies of communication have diminished the role and number of activists, while party elites increasingly can make do without grassroots activists. However, recent scholarship concerning different democracies has shown how activism still matters for representation. This book contributes to this literature by analyzing the unique case of the Uruguayan Frente Amplio (FA), the only mass-organic, institutionalized leftist party in Latin America. Using thick description, systematic process tracing, and survey research, this case study highlights the value of an organization-centered approach for understanding parties' role in democracy. Within the FA, organizational rules grant activists a significant voice, which imbues activists' participation with a strong sense of efficacy. This book is an excellent resource for scholars and students of Latin America and comparative politics who are interested in political parties and the challenges confronting new democracies.

1. Introduction
2. Context matters: the political and socioeconomic setting
3. Voluntary activism in the FA
4. Origins and reproduction of the mass organic structure
5. Party structure, efficacy and activism
6. The limits to strategic adaptation
7. The FA in comparative perspective
8. Theoretical conclusions and political implications
Appendiices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political activism [JPW], Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies [JPFF], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]