Class and conservative parties

Edward L. Gibson

What accounted for the rise of conservative parties in many democratizing Latin American countries in the 1980s and 1990s? Does this augur well for the stable representation of the propertied and socially privileged in political parties? In Class and Conservative Parties Edward Gibson examines these questions in light of Latin America's long legacies of authoritarianism and democratic instability. While previous studies have stressed ideological criteria as defining characteristics of conservative parties, Gibson defines them as parties that draw their core constituencies from the upper strata of society. He thus provides a new approach to the comparative study of conservative parties and offers theoretical insights into the dynamics of conservative electoral coalition-building. . Using Argentine politics as his main case, Gibson addresses the causes of that country's troubled...

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