Description
Book SynopsisThis 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.
Trade ReviewA much-needed grassroots study of two ‘populist’ experiments in Venezuela and Bolivia. Gabriel Hetland is an astute observer of Latin American politics and this insightful, thoughtful book goes beyond the polemics and cliches to consider what democracy means to people whose opinions are rarely consulted. Indispensable. -- Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of
The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of AmericaHetland masterfully portrays the complexity of implementing democracy on the grassroots level in Latin America. -- Susan Eva Eckstein, author of
Cuban Privilege: The Making of Immigrant Inequality in AmericaIn this important book, Gabriel Hetland brings his illuminating fieldwork in Venezuela and Bolivia to make a compelling and original argument about how the nature of national political systems can shape the possibility for participatory action on the ground. -- Sujatha Fernandes, author of
Who Can Stop the Drums? Urban Social Movements in Chávez’s VenezuelaDemocracy on the Ground explores an interesting puzzle: why did political elites embrace participatory democracy in some Latin American cities and not others? This puzzle and Hetland’s findings are important to many debates about democracy, political elites, political parties, and participatory governance. His extensive fieldwork will be of great value to scholars and policy makers who want to better understand the political dynamics in this region -- Stephanie McNulty, author of
Democracy From Above? The Unfulfilled Promise of Nationally Mandated Participatory ReformsHis unexpected findings raise important questions for leftists anywhere hoping to one day exercise state power. * Jacobin *
An alluring read. * International Affairs *
This book is valuable to scholars and teachers of Latin American politics, political sociology, and comparative politics...
Democracy on the Ground demonstrates that it is not only possible to widen the sphere of democratic participation without inciting elite repression, but that it has empirically already happened. * Peace and Change *
An important contribution to studies of democracy, participation, and the Left. * Hispanic American Historical Review *
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Venezuela: Refracting Left-Populist Hegemony into Participatory Urban Governance1. 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 Clientelism4. 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
