From Movements to Parties in Latin America: The Evolution of Ethnic Politics
"In a clear and well-written treatment, Van Cott ... asks why ethnic parties emerged in the 1990s and why they experienced different levels of success.... This is a crucial resource for understanding contemporary indigenous politics."Choice"In this magnificent landmark study, Van Cott establishes herself as the preeminent empiricist on and advocate for ethnic parties in South America."Foreign Affairs"Because of the great complexity of indigenous politics in Latin America, rarely does scholarship on this topic venture beyond one or two country cases.  Donna Lee Van Cott's systematic comparison of indigenous politics across six countries is therefore a courageous and welcome contribution to the growing literature on this topic."International Affairs"Donna Lee Van Cott has been a pioneer in the study of indigenous people's politics in Latin America.  Her new book is an important contribution to the study of political parties, especially to the questions of why indigenous parties form and succeed or fail to...From Movement to Parties is very well researched, clearly and persuasively argued, and well written.  It is essential reading for political scientists who work on ethnic parties, social movements, and Latin America."Political Science Quarterly"Van Cott's book is the first in-depth analysis that analyzes ethnic party emergence by rigorously comparing the primary cases of both successful and failed formation.... The book is extremely thorough, providing excellent, in-depth discussions ... arguably provid[ing] the single best current source of information on indegous political parties in Latin America."Moblization"Innovatively blending institutional analysis with social movement theories, Van Cott highlights the importance of access to new constitutional rights, the maturity and unity of indigenous social movements, cross-country diffusion, and indigenous participation in the constitutional reform process. It is at this conjunction of institutional and social movement theories that the author's thesis is most original and strong....Van Cott's work presents an impressive cross-national comparison of the timely issue of indigenous movements, politics, and their intersection with the decline of political parties, democratic opening, and protests against neoliberalism."Rebecca Meyers, Brown University, Latin American Politics and Society"...make[s] remarkable contributions to our understanding of contemporary Latin American politics....Van Cott makes her case through a reconstruction of the historical formation and recent changes of the institutional structures that mediate the relations among the dominant elites and between the elites and subordinate indigenous populations."Pablo Andrade, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Perspectives on Politics"Likewise, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that she places indigenous ethnicity as an important variable in the process of democratic reconstruction and possibly even democratic renewal in Latin America demonstrates an important level of scholarly originality that renders this work a refreshing overview of the possible links between ethnic and party politics in Latin America."Canadian Journal of Political Science