From Social Networks to Political Parties: Indigenous Party-Building in Bolivia

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Authors
Giusti-Rodríguez, Mariana
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2023-12-12
Date
December 12, 2023
Publisher
Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science
Language
Abstract
While existing scholarship recognizes the centrality of social organizations for party-building efforts, how network structures condition party-building remains underexamined. This article argues that a core property of the network environments within which proto-parties emerge— structural resilience—shapes opportunities for proto-parties’ expansion and consolidation. More resilient network structures—those with multiple pathways available for expansion—decrease proto-parties’ vulnerability to structural threats and allow them to circumvent competition. To evaluate this theory, I examine the organizational networks of three comparable indigenous party-building efforts in Bolivia. Using original network data and a mixed-methods approach, I demonstrate that MAS-IPSP succeeded in establishing itself as the indigenous party because of the structural resilience of the network environment within which it originated. By contrast, its counterparts failed when targeted network attacks undermined their access to organizational spaces critical to their expansion strategies. The findings reveal often-overlooked variation in the relationship between social organizations and political parties.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003055423001272
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship (award number P022A140010), a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, the Government Department and Office of the Provost at Cornell University, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Provost Predoctoral Fellowship.
Format
21 p.
Citation
Giusti-Rodríguez, Mariana. "From Social Networks to Political Parties: Indigenous Party-Building in Bolivia." American Political Science Review (2023): 1-21.
Distribution Statement
Rights
Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner. Used by permission.
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