Consolidating Power in Multiethnic Societies: The MAS and the ambivalence of collective mobilization in Bolivia

Abstract

In this article, I examine the advantages and challenges parties face in multiethnic societies to maintain and expand their reach, especially at the local level. I argue that the relevance of ethnic forms of governance for decision-making in these societies provides a different set of constraints on the strategies parties are able to carry out due to the fact that communities function collectively in the political arena. Thus, owing to this collective logic, parties that manage to craft durable links with indigenous communities and organizations are able to secure widespread electoral support. By contrast, when parties face conflicts from indigenous groups, these also come in the form of collective mobilization, which are particularly destabilizing for parties seeking to consolidate their power in culturally diverse countries. This article focuses on the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the ruling party in Bolivia, to illustrate the ambivalence of collective citizenship. This party, which has managed to secure an electoral hegemony, emerged and expanded using this community-based logic as its trademark. However, while the party has been electorally successful in most of the country, it has been unable to co-opt and penetrate some indigenous groups, which have become the centre of collective mobilizations against the MAS government.