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Social Networks and Party Building in the Andes

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Social Networks and Party Building in the Andes FROM SOCIAL CLEAVAGES TO PARTY SYSTEMS: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND PARTY BUILDING IN THE ANDES A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Mariana Giusti-Rodriguez August 2018 © 2018 Mariana Giusti-Rodriguez i FROM SOCIAL CLEAVAGES TO PARTY SYSTEMS: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND PARTY BUILDING IN THE ANDES Mariana Giusti-Rodriguez, Ph.D. Cornell University 2018 Why, despite experiencing similar systemic shocks, has Bolivia embarked on a successful process of (partial) party system reconstruction while Peru’s party system remains collapsed? This dissertation introduces a theory of networked cleavage articulation that explains this variation in party system reconstruction outcomes. This theory posits that the social network structures within which nascent parties emerge condition the articulation of social cleavages in the party system and define the extent to which cleavages become associated with party system consolidation or increased political instability. The dissertation employs original interviews, surveys, and electoral data to evaluate this theory through a mixed-methods approach. It offers three central findings. First, it demonstrates that social cleavages can consistently structure political behavior and nonetheless be associated with various party system outcomes, from consolidation to social conflict. I show that, ethnic cleavages in Bolivia and Peru have structured political behavior since their democratic transitions and throughout major party system transformations. Second, the dissertation demonstrates that the degree of cleavage articulation explains variation in party system reconstruction outcomes. In Bolivia, the MAS-IPSP produced a successful articulation of the indigenous bloc of the ethnic cleavage, enabling partial party system reconstruction. In contrast, political parties’ articulation offers for the non-indigenous in Bolivia and both the indigenous and non-indigenous in Peru have thus far failed. Consequently, these ethnic blocs remain associated with political instability. Finally, this dissertation shows that the likelihood of cleavage articulation is conditioned by nascent parties’ original network landscapes. I find that, in contrast to other indigenous and non-indigenous parties in Bolivia and Peru, which have emerged from networks with regional strength and limited paths to expansion, the MAS-IPSP emerged within a vast organizational landscape that provided it with diverse within-network paths to growth and enabled it to produce a successful indigenous bloc articulation. This dissertation challenges current understanding of the relationship between social cleavages and party systems. By bringing attention to the challenges of cleavage articulation, its likelihood of failure, and the role of social networks in this process, the dissertation introduces new and important insights to existing literature on social cleavages, political representation, and party politics. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Mariana Giusti-Rodríguez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received her B.A. from Bard College in Political Science with a minor in Latin American and Iberian Studies in 2007. After graduating from college, Mariana spent two years working in sustainable community development in Nicaragua. In 2009, she traveled to Bolivia and Peru with the support of a Fulbright Fellowship to research social movements and political representation before initiating her graduate work at Cornell University in the fall of 2010. She obtained her master’s degree in 2013. Throughout her graduate work, Mariana obtained fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays DDRA and the Ford Foundation and spent a year as a Pre-doctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2018, Mariana will begin a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. iii DEDICATION Para mami y papi. Gracias por su amor y apoyo incondicional. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help, mentorship, and support of a vast number of people and institutions. I want to first thank my advisor, Kenneth Roberts, for his generous and patient mentorship. Throughout the past eight years, Ken has helped me find my way out of the weeds, regularly reminding me of the big picture, helping me draw research connections where these seemed elusive, and pushing me to continue improving my ideas in key ways. It has been a privilege to work with him throughout this process. I want to also give thanks to the members of my dissertation committee—Gustavo Flores Macías, Ronald Herring, and Sidney Tarrow—whose support throughout this journey has proved invaluable. From providing me with thoughtful feedback and discussing my work with me in its various stages to providing encouragement and practical advice as I navigated this long process, their mentorship and feedback has contributed greatly to my intellectual and professional growth during my time at Cornell. I am beyond grateful for their support. Other Cornell professors and administrative staff have also made this an enriching experience. I want to thank, in particular, Bryce Corrigan, Peter Enns, Sergio García Ríos, and Sabrina Karim who gifted me with important time and advice during my later years in the program. Their support not only enabled me to navigate the path from graduate student to scholar, but also made me feel at home after a long period in the field. Thank you also to Tina Slater, who has made the graduate experience a wholly positive one, helping me navigate seemingly insurmountable administrative hurdles, saving me from missing many deadlines, and providing a constant supply of optimism throughout my time at Cornell. Outside of Cornell, I also benefited from the support of numerous people. Tulia Falleti welcomed me to the University of Pennsylvania and generously accepted me as her mentee. Her v brilliance, productivity, and mentorship have been central to my academic experience since and continue to inspire me as a scholar. In Bolivia and Peru, several scholars helped me navigate these countries’ political landscapes in search for answers. I want to give particular thanks to Paulo Vilca, who has been helping me understand the local Peruvian context since my first travels to Peru in 2006. I also want to thank Jorge Aragón, Eduardo Dargent, José Incio, Jorge Komadina, Rafael Loayza, Fernando Mayorga, Paula Muñoz, Aldo Panfichi, Pedro Portugal, Salvador Romero Ballivián, David Sulmont, Alberto Vergara, Mauricio Zavaleta, María Teresa Zegada, and Moira Zuazo for their willingness to listen to my ideas and share their feedback and knowledge with me throughout my time in their countries. I am beyond grateful to them and to all of my interview subjects for generously sharing their time and insights and making my fieldwork experience an exciting, insightful, and stimulating one. I hope the final product does justice to everything that they have taught me along the way. This research project would not have been possible without the generous support of the Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays Programs, the Ford Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of the Provost, and Cornell University’s Office of the Provost, Government Department and Einaudi Center. I want to thank these institutions for believing in the potential of my research and supporting it generously. The friends that I have made over the course of the years have filled my days with laughter, distracted me when I needed it most, and provided essential space for the development and debate of ideas. At Cornell, I want to thank, especially, Aileen Cardona—my roommate, compatriota, and dear friend—without whom this would have been a difficult journey. Along with her, Lauren Honig and Danielle Thompsen have shared countless cups of coffee and glasses of wine with me as we have sought to solve the political problems of the world and deciphered vi strategies to thrive in our personal and professional lives. Thank you for making this a fun and stimulating journey. Thank you also to Mathias Poertner and to my other academic colleagues and classmates for their feedback and support throughout this experience. And to Marita, Edwing, Adriana, and Alex, who have gifted me with a home and family in Puno, where I least expected it, a warm and special thank you. Finally, I want to thank my family. My husband, Jonathan, showed up during the first week of this academic adventure and has been by my side since. In our early days, he provided a much-needed Brooklyn escape from the graduate student life. Later on, he became an integral part of this academic experience, accompanying me throughout my fieldwork, listening to me and helping me sort out my ideas, and providing my life with necessary balance. I am beyond grateful that I get to share this adventure with him. To my parents, Juan and Nieves, I owe the world. They have provided me with unconditional love, attention, encouragement, and support. I want to thank them for believing in me and providing me with perspective, hugs, and advice when I have needed these most. I also want to give a special thank you to my dad for being my life academic mentor and always encouraging me to continue growing intellectually. Finally, I want to thank my sister, Paola Giusti, who has blazed the Ph.D. trail ahead of me and made this an achievable journey for the both of us. I am fortunate to
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