Source: © Ivan Alvarado, Reuters. Alvarado, © Ivan Source: Other Topics A Salvageable Relationship? Society and Political Parties in Latin America Ángel Arellano 75 For years, Latin Americans’ trust in the established political parties has found itself in a downwards spiral. This brings young movements and political novices to the scene, who have been winning elections all over the continent lately. Neverthe- less, doubts are justified as to whether these political outsiders are able to solve the myriad of crises. “It may be that parties as political institutions gradually disappearing, slowly being replaced by new political structures more suitable for the economic and technological realities of twenty-first-century politics.”1 Latin America has been hit by a wave of corrup- in the face of social networks having turned into tion scandals that has stained the reputation of a space, used by a large part of society to argue, state administrations in almost every country in ask questions, and/either applaud or condemn the region. With hundreds of politicians jailed what it sees as right or wrong. This sea of sub- and hundreds more under investigation, these jectivities, in which post-truth is the new buzz cases have not only shone a light on society’s word, has put public servants and political lead- ethical standards by testing the strength of its ers under permanent scrutiny in a world that institutional architecture. They have also shown is increasingly “transparent” – or at least less there is a connection between economic crisis opaque. (or at least a slowdown in growth) and the mis- appropriation of public funds – a link the Inter- As a global window on anything that anyone net has done much to publicise. The situation does, the Internet has turned the negative phe- has raised questions about democracy itself nomena created by bad action on the part of and has led to conflict between the system with the government into a powerful body of opin- its governing bodies and political machinery ion, which punishes the “bad” in politics on an on one side, and newly emerging social move- unprecedented scale. Sartori,2 Duverger3 and ments, political groups and outsider candidates other theorists taught us that democracy is on the other. made possible by political parties. Like society itself, and indeed because of society, political What do the latter demand? Some call for parties continuously change as they strive to urgent, radical change to how politics is con- become a better version of themselves in order ducted, structural reforms to institutions, and to broaden or maintain their support base in improved opportunities for new actors and gen- their ongoing quest for power. But globalisation erations unencumbered by corrupt practices. and the exposure of bad political practices via Others seek recognition and a role in agreeing social media have undermined the foundations measures that can be implemented through of that party-base relationship. the existing system. Yet others want to get into government and effect change through new In late 2017, Latinobarómetro published a study policies. of the political perceptions of over 20,000 peo- ple throughout Latin America. It found that even It is common knowledge that the relationship in Uruguay, where society appreciated politi- between political parties and civil society is cal parties the most, that level of trust barely fraught with complex problems. Today these reached 25 per cent. The lowest scoring country problems have actually increased exponentially was Brazil, with seven per cent.4 76 International Reports 3|2018 Is the relationship between society and politi- outsider candidates. These actors burst onto the cal parties failing? If so, someone else might be political scene presenting themselves as an alter- filling the void. That possibility raises another native to traditional politics and as far removed question: What is the role of social movements, from corruption and the abuse of power. How- emerging groups and outsider candidates in ever, not all of them are new – said categories contemporary Latin America? may include figures who in the past served as elected representatives, stood as candidates or To answer the first question, we must revisit the belonged to a party. Nonetheless, their conduct figures measuring trust in the parties, which and the way they “do” politics sets them apart have suffered a seemingly inexorable decline from the establishment. since 2011. We must also examine the discour- aging figures showing how Latin Americans As noted, the scandals surrounding so many judge democracy. leaders are now setting the regional political agenda, with no country escaping the serious Figure 1 measures average levels of trust in politi- accusations levelled against high-ranking poli- cal parties over the 1995-2017 period. During ticians and public servants. It is in this context those 22 years, the highest point was during the that a space has opened up both for social move- mid-1990s (1996), when the region was plagued ments to advocate reforms aimed at cleaning up by many occurrences of political and economic the system and bringing in new actors, as well as crises. This score then rapidly declined until for involving independent personalities in gov- 2002, when it began to increase in line with the ernment, too. Let us turn briefly to one such case rising tide of so-called progressive governments that will allow us to contextualise this argument. throughout Latin America. Only to fall once again in 2011. Uruguay’s Autoconvocados The second question concerns the role of social The new social movements emerging in the movements, emerging political groups and current juncture give society a non-party voice.5 Fig. 1: Trust in Political Parties (in Per Cent) Latin America total 24 20 16 26 24 12 23 22 21 8 20 20 20 20 18 4 16 15 Peru Chile Brazil Bolivia Mexico Panama Ecuador Uruguay Paraguay Colombia Honduras Argentina Nicaragua Dom. Rep. Costa Rica Guatemala El Salvador 1994 1996 1998 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 America Latin Source: Own illustration based on Corporación Latinobarómetro: Informe 2017, in: https://bit.ly/2Os1vbE [1 Oct 2018]. Other Topics 77 Fig. 2: Evaluating Democracy (in Per Cent) traditionally been linked to the world of farming and cattle breeding, and which stands out as How would you describe democracy in your country? one of the best democracies on the continent? Full democracy Un Solo Uruguay’s mobilising, action-based agenda was neither initiated nor articulated Democracy with minor problems by parties or producer associations. The party- society link did not function in this case and as Democracy with a collective behaviour it has expressed itself major problems through protests, vigils, communiqués and alter- There is no democracy natives to the usual institutional routes. Playing by the rules but competing on a different terrain No Opinion / No Response / with the parties and associations, the autoconvo- I do not know what a democracy is cados have achieved widespread recognition and influence in the public opinion. They have used 2017 2013 2004 10 20 30 40 50 this capital to push for their demands, which not only include economic measures to revital- Full democracy ise rural production, lower fuel and electricity 15 prices, and better conditions for rural entrepre- neurs; but also a decline in state spending and 10 an end to government corruption. 5 This state of affairs arises partly as a result of those in the movement who lie outside the spectrum of traditional parties7 but whose Peru Chile Brasil involvement in politics is also motivated by Bolivia Mexico Panama Ecuador Uruguay Paraguay electoral ambitions as they seek to take advan- Colombia Honduras Argentina Venezuela Nicaragua Dom. Rep. Costa Rica Guatemala El Salvador tage of the situation. Thus, in Uruguay we have Latin America Latin the example of Edgardo Novick; a businessman Source: Own illustration based on Corporación who stood as a mayoral candidate in Monte- Latinobarómetro: Informe 2017, in: https://bit.ly/ video in 2014, and who now hopes to become 2Os1vbE [1 Oct 2018]. president through his own party, the Partido de la Gente (“the People’s Party”), which identi- fies with the political centre. Made up of inde- They seek to interact directly with decision-mak- pendents as well as leaders from other parties,8 ers, exploiting the political opportunity afforded it was “borne of a spontaneous clamour on them6 and making themselves heard via a mobi- the part of society” and “aims for a transfer of lising agenda that influences public opinion. One power on the basis that the country is in urgent case in point is the movement of the autoconvo- need of change and transformation”.9 That cados (the self-convened) known as Un Solo Uru- does not, however, mean the autoconvocados guay (There is only one Uruguay). It first appeared or similar movements have ended up serv- in rural Uruguay at the start of 2018, and it com- ing as a platform to directly promote Novick prises small- to large-scale farmers and ranchers or any other candidate – in fact, they have not calling for a change to the economic conditions managed to get close to any of the presidential that have stifled growth and generated losses in favourites. Rather, what we seek to show is that the sector. such situations collaterally open a window of opportunity for an outsider discourse centred Who could have imagined a social movement on renewing political parties, reforming the on this scale in a country where politicians have state, cleaning up public institutions, making 78 International Reports 3|2018 Sitting on a volcano: The risk of a violent escalation amongst the population increases if politicians do not manage to solve pressing social ills.