Soledad Valdivia Rivera - Political Networks and Social Movements: Bolivian State-Society Relations Under Evo Morales, 2006-2016

General Editor

Michiel Baud, CEDLA

Anthony Bebbington, Clark University

Edward F. Fischer, Vanderbilt University

Anthony L. Hall, London School of Economics

Barbara Hogenboom, CEDLA

Barbara Potthast, University of Cologne

Rachel Sieder, CIESAS

G. Eduardo Silva, Tulane University

Patricio Silva, Leiden University

CEDLA

Centro de Estudios y Documentacin Latinoamericanos

Centro de Estudos e Documentao Latino-Americanos

Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation

CEDLA conducts social science and history research, offers university courses, and has a specialized library for the study of the region. The centre also publishes monographs and a journal on Latin America.

Keizersgracht 395397

1016 EK Amsterdam

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www.cedla.uva.nl

[For information on previous volumes published in this series, please contact CEDLA at the above address.]

Soledad Valdivia Rivera

Edited by Christien Klaufus and Arij Ouweneel

Gonzalo Delamaza

Edited by Ton Salman, Salvador Mart i Puig and Gemma van der Haar

Edited by Jennifer L. Burrell and Ellen Moodie

Edited by Alex Latta and Hannah Wittman

Christien Klaufus

Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz

Edited by Alex E. Fernndez Jilberto and Barbara Hogenboom

Soledad Valdivia Rivera

First published in 2019 by

Berghahn Books

www.berghahnbooks.com

2019 Soledad Valdivia Rivera

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages

for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book

may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information

storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,

without written permission of the publisher.

Names: Valdivia Rivera, Soledad, author.

Title: Political networks and social movements : Bolivian state-society relations under Evo Morales, 2006-2016 / Soledad Valdivia Rivera.

Description: New York : Berghahn Books, 2019. | Series: Cedla Latin America studies ; Volume 106 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019006551 (print) | LCCN 2019009042 (ebook) | ISBN 9781789202205 (ebook) | ISBN 9781789202199 (hardback : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Political participation--Bolivia. | Democracy--Bolivia. | Social movements--Political aspects--Bolivia. | Policy networks--Bolivia. | Morales Ayma, Evo, 1959- | Movimiento al Socialismo (Bolivia) | Bolivia--Politics and government--2006-

Classification: LCC JL2281 (ebook) | LCC JL2281 .V34 2019 (print) | DDC 306.20984/0901512--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006551

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78920-219-9 hardback

ISBN 978-1-78920-220-5 ebook

The presidential elections in December 2005 in Bolivia represented a milestone in the countrys history, with social leader Evo Morales being chosen as the first president of indigenous origin. The uniqueness of this situation was also reinforced by the absolute majority the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) a left-wing coalition of social movements that had chosen the coca farmer as their leader won in the vote. Since Morales came to power in January 2006, the country has been the scene of a series of reforms that have substantially transformed the relationship between state and society. Equally important is the fact that, since then, the MAS and Evo Morales have managed to consolidate a regime that has lasted for more than ten years. During this period, Bolivia has experienced significant economic growth, together with political transformations such as the formulation of a new state constitution, the implementation of redistributive policies and the nationalisation of strategic sectors. At the same time, serious questions have been raised about corruption, deficiencies in the justice system and authoritarianism.

Despite this, the MASs staying in power has equalled economic and political stability. This is important, since Morales electoral victory occurred after a period marked by an insurgence of strong social movements and a legitimacy crisis in the political system. Between 2000 and 2005, there were several episodes of social unrest, in which an increasingly structured set of social movements opposed the state, forcing U-turns in state policies as well as the resignation of two constitutional presidents on more than one occasion. The socio-political crisis in this period resulted in a scenario of ungovernability that posed serious questions to the state of democracy, twenty years after it had been reinstalled in the Andean country. The first years of the Morales government were marked by social unrest but, after the new constitution was passed, although social conflict has been pervasive, the political impasse seems to have been overcome. The high number of votes won by the MAS and its leader in the re-elections reflect the confidence the Bolivian population has in the regime and particularly in Morales as carriers and guarantors of continuity. In effect, his charismatic leadership is identified as being key to the MAS administration, and to some it is even deemed indispensable.

More recently, however, there have been signs of change. On 21 February 2016, a referendum was held asking the population whether Morales should stand in the 2019 elections. The referendum proposed a reform of the new constitution concerning the article that prohibits a second re-election. The reformation of that article would potentially prolong Morales power for two decades. Previous electoral victories gave confidence to Morales and the MAS on the referendum but a nip majority of the Bolivian people voted against the governmental plan. In that way, the referendum put an expiry date on Morales leadership, posing the question of how a political project that had grown so dependent on its political leader could continue without him. The uncertainty surrounding the stability and governability of the country as a result of the leadership vacuum Morales would leave behind was short lived: in December 2017 the Constitutional Court ruled that re-postulating as presidential candidate is an inalienable right of all citizens to elect and to be elected, enshrined by the Pact of San Jos of Costa Rica. By this means the ban on term limits has been lifted, paving the way for Morales candidacy at upcoming elections, while at the same time raising once again serious questions about the state of democracy in the country.