Democracy on the Ground - Local Politics in Latin Americas Left Turn

This book examines the complex relationship of the Left, the Right, and democracy through the lens of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia. Drawing on two years of fieldwork, Gabriel Hetland compares attempts at participatory reform in cities governed by the Left and Right in each country.

List of contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Venezuela: Refracting Left-Populist Hegemony into Participatory Urban Governance
1. Venezuela: From Crisis to Left-Populist Hegemony
2. Torres: Participatory Democracy in “Venezuela’s First Socialist City”
3. Sucre: Administered Democracy in a Right-Governed “Chavista City”
Part II. Bolivia: Refracting Passive Revolution, Perpetuating Clientelism
4. Bolivia: From Active to Passive Revolution
5. Santa Cruz: Technocratic Clientelism, or Fear of the Masses
6. El Alto: Inverted Clientelism in the Rebel City
Conclusion
Methodological Appendix: Thinking About the Political in Political Ethnography
Notes
References
Index

About the author

Gabriel Hetland is associate professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Summary

This book examines the complex relationship of the Left, the Right, and democracy through the lens of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia. Drawing on two years of fieldwork, Gabriel Hetland compares attempts at participatory reform in cities governed by the Left and Right in each country.

Product details

• Authors: Gabriel Hetland
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.07.2023
• EAN: 9780231207706
• ISBN: 978-0-231-20770-6
• No. of pages: 336
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Venezuela, Sociology, Political Ideologies, Political Science, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Caribbean & Latin American, Political structures: democracy, Bolivia, Political ideologies and movements