Explains the formation in the 1990s of successful political parties in four Latin American countries.

Provides a detailed treatment of an important topic that has received no scholarly attention: the surprising transformation of indigenous peoples' movements into viable political parties in the 1990s in four Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) and their failure to succeed in two others (Argentina, Peru). The parties studied are crucial components of major trends in the region. By providing to voters clear programs for governing, and reaching out in particular to under-represented social groups, they have enhanced the quality of democracy and representative government. Based on extensive original research and detailed historical case studies, the book links historical institutional analysis and social movement theory to a study of the political systems in which the new ethnic cleavages emerged. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications for democracy of the emergence of this phenomenon in the context of declining public support for parties.

1. Introduction: toward a comprehensive theory of ethnic party formation and performance
2. Institutions, party systems, and social movements
3. 'A reflection of our motley reality': Bolivian Indians' slow path to political representation
4. 'We are the government': Pachakutik's rapid ascent to national power
5. 'It is not a priority': the failure to form viable ethnic parties in Peru
6. Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela: unlikely cases of ethnic party formation and success
7. Conclusions and Implications.