The Dynamic Diversity of Latin American Party Systems

Abstract

Most Latin American party systems change so often and in so many respects that the `typical' party system of each country can be described only in imprecise terms, if at all. However, the nature of party systems as they are defined in individual elections can be described in rich and fairly reliable detail. This article compares the party systems of 20th-century Latin America election by election through indicators of fragmentation, volatility, personalism, ideological clarity, mean left-right tendency and polarization. The data cover approximately 150 lower or single-house legislative elections in 20th-century Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.