We *can* build multi-party democracy--with real, people-based parties--on the other side of the GOP's current power grab. Countries all around the world have invaluable lessons to teach us

All three of these countries, like most of Latin America, have presidential systems, with a history of presidents acting as dictators (with outside help). Just because you become a dictatorship does not mean you stay one.

Many people think this is inevitable, but it is not. Oligarchy is not an iron law. We can form new parties. We can hold party leaders accountable.

These case studies offer great lessons for those of us in the United States. We have widespread disengagement, in part because our two "parties" are mere brand labels, not linked to grassroots organization or participation. Our "third parties" are more about symbolic dissent than claiming power

Equally fascinating, Morena has maintained a system of sortition (random selection) for selecting some of its candidates for the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, the country's lower legislative house.

Poertner cites data that this engagement successfully blocks elite capture and increases engagement

Due to the stronger ties between party and movements in Bolivia, the internal discord was not a source of rupture the same way it was in Ecuador. MAS did not eliminate dissent from its base, but neither did the discord permanently destroy the founding coalition

These case studies present fascinating new illustrations of party democracy in action. Both President Morales in Bolivia and President Correa in Ecuador engaged in actions which alienated grassroots indigenous movements and sparked protests

When social movement leaders and party leaders have struggled together in formative or decisive years, the relationships between the party and the social movements have become strong and enduring, which Poertner argues has happened in Bolivia and Mexico

All three parties have relied heavily on connections to grassroots social movements and organizations, whether they are small and local (more so in Mexico) or national and large (Bolivia)

www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...

A recent book by @mathiaspoertner.bsky.social presents fascinating examples from Latin America of successful 21st century mass parties: the Movement to Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia, The National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in Mexico, and the Proud and Sovereign Homeland (PAiS) party in Ecuador

There wouldn't be this bizarre game of treating Senate Democrats like a smattering of individuals with some vague ideological overlap, asking each of them to do the right thing one-by-one.

The weakness of our parties is undemocratic.

Instead, we have the Democratic Party, an amorphous collection of membership-free entities with no enforceable platform. Because the Democrats "monopolize the opposition" (in Schattschneider's phrase), and because most races are safe, we are in a weak position to exert any pressure on them