Henry A. Dietz

From Thaw to Deluge: Party System Collapse in Venezuela and Peru

What conditions facilitate party system collapse, the farthest-reaching variant of party system change? How does collapse occur? Numerous studies of lesser types of party system change exist, but studies of party system collapse are rare. This study draws on the existing literature and the cases of party system collapse in Venezuela (1988–2000) and Peru (1985–95) to advance some answers to the important questions about the phenomenon. The study posits three conditions that predispose political party systems to collapse: the presence of an acute or sustained crisis that questions the ability of system-sustaining political parties to govern; extremely low or extremely high levels of party system institutionalization; and the emergence of an anti-establishment figure with the desire and personal authority to generate a viable alternative to the established party system. The study also posits a three-election sequential process during which collapse takes place.

Political Participation in the Barriadas An Extension and Reexamination

Existing research on the voting behavior of the urban poor in the Third World has frequently suggested that demand aggregation by political parties (especially in a multiparty system) is not clear-cut, and that the urban poor do not tend to demonstrate marked party or ideological preferences. By replicating, deepening, and extending an early study done in Lima, Peru, new research reveals patterns of candidate and party support hitherto unidentified. District-level aggregate voting data and multiple-indicator census data reveal some clear patterns of support from low-income groups for opposition and leftist candidates.

Political Participation in the Barriadas A Research Update

This research note updates earlier work that focused on electoral behavior among the urban poor in Lima, Peru. The previous research stopped with the 1983 municipal elections. The data used here extend the analysis through the 1985 presidential election and the 1986 municipal election. The results largely reinforce the hypotheses originally proposed for explaining the observed vacillating support for the left by low-income urban voters.