Awards

• Winner of Winner of the Carlos Real de Azua book award, of the Uruguayan Political Science Association.
• Winner of Winner of the Carlos Real de Azúa book award, of the Uruguayan Political Science Association.
• Winner of Winner of the Carlos Real de Az^D'ua book award, of the Uruguayan Political Science Association.
• Winner of Winner of the Carlos Real de Az´ua book award, of the Uruguayan Political Science Association.

Overview

"Even in Latin America's most socially and economically stable countries, new parties emerge constantly, old parties collapse, and party systems across the region are notoriously fragile. Still, there are also successful stories. There have been a number of parties in Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela that used to be able to operate well beyond electoral cycles and preserve a significant presence in their respective countries for decades. How do such political parties remain vibrant organizations over time?In Party Vibrancy and Democracy in Latin America, Fernando Rosenblatt sheds new light on how party vibrancy is maintained and reproduced over time in three of the region's more stable countries-Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay. Referencing these three ""consolidated"" democracies with records of good governance, Rosenblatt identifies the complex interaction between four causal factors that can explain party vibrancy: Purpose, Trauma, Channels of Ambition, and Moderate Exit Barriers. ""Purpose"" activates prospective loyalty among party members. ""Trauma"" refers to a shared traumatic past which engenders retrospective loyalty. ""Channels of Ambition"" are established routes by which individuals can pursue political careers. Finally, ""Moderate Exit Barriers"" are rules that set costs of defection at reasonable levels. When these factors work together throughout a party's ""Golden Age,"" they can demonstrate a link between party organizations´ stability and the quality of democratic representation across Latin America. As Rosenblatt finds, when parties remain vibrant organizations, democracies are better able to withstand challenges long-term. A unique qualitative study, Party Vibrancy and Democracy in Latin America demonstrates how the vitality of political parties can directly and indirectly impact how effective they are as intermediaries for their citizens not just in Latin America, but around the world."

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9780190870041

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Reviews

Political parties are an integral part of most political systems. Rosenblatt conducted extensive interviews from 2010 to 2014 with many political activists in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, three of Latin America's currently most stable democracies. He attributes the stability of these regimes to party vibrancy, a condition based on party institutionalization not tied to a particular candidate or factor. Despite many challenges, parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have survived as significant channels of democratic representation and served their nations well. While drawing the examples from Latin America, Rosenblatt's conclusions are broadly applicable to political parties anywhere in the world. The book belongs in all academic libraries. -CHOICE, J. A. Rhodes, emeritus, Luther College Fernando Rosenblatt's well-researched and highly engaging book goes beyond scholars' common focus on party institutionalization and examines under what conditions Latin American parties maintain vibrancy and guarantee the active, dynamic representation of citizen interests. By weaving together various causal factors, ranging from historical trauma to exit barriers, Rosenblatt constructs a novel explanation that combines rational choice and historical institutionalism in imaginative ways. -Wendy Hunter, Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin This book will subvert conventional wisdom on party organizations, party building, and institutionalization. Rosenblatt's masterful case study research also illuminates why even if 'necessary for democracy' to work properly, vibrant political parties are so incredibly difficult to find (and to build from scratch) in contemporary times. -Juan Pablo Luna, Professor of Political Science, PUC-Chile The Reproduction of Party Vibrancy in Latin America presents a compelling explanation for why some Latin American parties have flourished, while others have decayed. Based on extensive field research in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, the book represents an important contribution to our understanding of Latin American parties and party vibrancy more generally. -Raul L. Madrid, Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin At a time when traditional parties seem to be wearing out in democracies around the world, Fernando Rosenblatt's book provides much-needed insight on the factors that help parties maintain their vibrancy. Through a careful comparative analysis of major parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, Rosenblatt demonstrates that ossification and decay are not the inevitable fate of political parties, and he illuminates essential organizational characteristics that counteract such tendencies and keep parties vibrant. This book is a major contribution to the comparative study of political parties and democratic representation, in Latin America and beyond. -Kenneth M. Roberts, Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, Cornell University

Political parties are an integral part of most political systems. Rosenblatt conducted extensive interviews from 2010 to 2014 with many political activists in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, three of Latin America's currently most stable democracies. He attributes the stability of these regimes to party vibrancy, acondition based on party institutionalization not tied to a particular candidate or factor. Despite many challenges, parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have survived as significant channels of democratic representation and served their nations well.While drawing the examples from Latin America, Rosenblatt's conclusions are broadly applicable to political parties anywhere in the world. The book belongs in all academic libraries. * J. A. Rhodes, emeritus, Luther College, CHOICE *

Political parties are an integral part of most political systems. Rosenblatt conducted extensive interviews from 2010 to 2014 with many political activists in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, three of Latin America's currently most stable democracies. He attributes the stability of these regimes to party vibrancy, a condition based on party institutionalization not tied to a particular candidate or factor. Despite many challenges, parties in Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have survived as significant channels of democratic representation and served their nations well. While drawing the examples from Latin America, Rosenblatt's conclusions are broadly applicable to political parties anywhere in the world. The book belongs in all academic libraries. -CHOICE, J. A. Rhodes, emeritus, Luther College

Author Information

Fernando Rosenblatt is an Associate Professor at the Universidad Diego Portales, Chile. He studies party organizations and party activism in Latin America. He has published in Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Party Politics, Governance, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Democratization, Política y Gobierno, and Revista de Ciencia Política. In collaboration with Verónica Pérez and Rafael Piñeiro, he coauthored How Party Activism Survives: Uruguay´s Frente Amplio (2020).

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