Resumo

FREIDENBERG, Flavia. Much Ado about Nothing. Partisan Organizations and Internal Democracy in Latin America. Polis [online]. 2005, vol.1, n.1, pp.91-134. ISSN 2594-0686.

Political parties in Latin America are oligarchic organisms, with low levels of internal democracy, which have harmed their public image. With a view to improving the links between citizens and parties throughout the 1990s, several reforms were passed aiming at increasing levels of inclusion and transparency in intra-party procedures. This paper develops a definition of internal democracy and explores in normative and empirical terms the behaviour of political parties in Latin America with regard to several dimensions that are key to this concept, namely, the selection of candidates and the definition of positions of authority. The study offers an analytical framework for a comparative analysis of 16 national cases and over 50 parties in the region. It also draws attention to the advantages and disadvantages and general impact of holding open internal elections, one of the mechanisms most used, on the workings of political parties.

Palavras-chave : candidate selection; political parties; internal democracy; Latin America.

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