Coming In From the Cold - An Institutional Perspective on the Emergence of Movimiento al Socialismo in Bolivia

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This is a comparative case study over time, where I investigate the rise of the party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) in Bolivia. Through a historical institutionalism perspective I look at the electoral system reform that was undertaken in Bolivia in 1994. I investigate if and how the reform contributed to the possibility of MAS to emerge at the national political arena. Through the reform, Bolivia switched from a proportional representation system to a mixed-member system. I analyse these different types of electoral systems, and use theories and hypotheses of what happens when you switch from one to another. Factors I look at are, for instance, single- and multimember districts, district magnitude and thresholds. I also see a purpose in itself of tracing the process of the electoral reform and the consequences it had for possibilities of indigenous parties to gain access to the national elections. My conclusion is that the reform did indeed help MAS to enter national politics. The main reason for this was the introduction of single-member districts; they made Bolivia...