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Citizenship and Political Parties in Ecuador

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Civil Society and Political Representation in Latin America (2010-2015)

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the relationship between civic association and the party politics institutionalization. Regardless of the theoretical perspectives focus on endogenous factors to the political institutions, I show that the strength of the citizen organizations is a key variable to evaluate the level of the party politics institutionalization. So, the presence of stable citizen associations with specific demands would incentive the emergence of consolidated and strong political parties. On the other side, the lack of strong citizen associations would drive that political parties be observed as electoral machines. Supported by historical narratives and electoral results in Ecuador (1979–2014), the chapter confirms when the citizen association is structurally weak, and the probabilities of the emergence of less institutionalized political parties increase.

This chapter is based in the article titled “Asociación cívica y desinstitucionalización de los partidos políticos en Ecuador: rupturas y continuidades, 1979-2014” which is published in Política y Sociedad, 53(3), 937–960.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    During local elections – provincial deputies and counselors and municipal city council members – on June 1, 1986, a question which mentioned the possibility of allowing nonmembers of political parties to run for office was included. The result of the referendum favored the NO.

  2. 2.

    What Menéndez-Carrión means is the absence of subaltern groups that represent the interest of the “common folk.” She tries to differentiate between those and the ones she calls oligarchic and bourgeois.

  3. 3.

    According to Hardin (2003: 164–165), institutional morale is the definition of objectives and probable effects.

  4. 4.

    Back in the 1980s, Partido Frente Amplio de Izquierda (FADI) was another receptor of union organizations demands. The passing of time brought FADI and PSE close until they merge into what is nowadays known as Partido Socialista-Frente Amplio (PS-FA) .

  5. 5.

    The mentioned labor reform was presented in bill 133 and turned into law on November 1991.

  6. 6.

    Currently, MPD has recovered as a political party although under a new nametag: Unidad Popular.

  7. 7.

    During president Correa’s visit to a police station on September 30, 2010, a group of police officers started a revolt that ended in the death of several people. According to the government, it was a failed coup in which the rebels tried to murder the president.

  8. 8.

    During the 2013–2017 term, Alianza Pais (AP) gained 100 seats, which represents 52.30% of the National Assembly.

  9. 9.

    Only two out the eight seats gained by PSC in 2013 actually came from the party. The remaining six were the result of alliances. Although four of those come from Movimiento Ciudadano Madera de Guerrero, which is a part of PSC based in Guayaquil. Thus, PSC’s pure representation is even lower than the one gained in the 1979–1984 term (4.34% of the total).

  10. 10.

    In the 1990–1992 period, PSC’s representation started showing a permanent increase. It went from 16 seats in the 1990–1992 term (12.21% of the total) to 21 seats in the 1992–1994 term (14.78% of the total) and finally to 26 seats in the 1994–1996 term (18.43% of the total).

  11. 11.

    During the 1984–1986, 1986–1988, and 1988–1990 electoral terms, PRE’s legislative representation went from three to four to eight seats (2.30%, 3.07%, and 6.10% of the total, respectively). During the 1990s their presence increased to 13, 15, and 12 seats in the 1990–1992, 1992–1994, and 1994–1996 electoral terms (9.92%, 10.56%, and 8.45% of the total, respectively).

  12. 12.

    Noboa ran for the presidency in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Santiago Basabe-Serrano

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  1. Santiago Basabe-Serrano
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Correspondence to Santiago Basabe-Serrano .

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  1. Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil

    Adrián Albala

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Basabe-Serrano, S. (2018). Citizenship and Political Parties in Ecuador. In: Albala, A. (eds) Civil Society and Political Representation in Latin America (2010-2015). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67801-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67801-6_8

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