Decentralization and Political Parties in Latin America: a State of the Art

This paper presents a state of the art of the literature about the role political parties played in the process of political, economic and administrative decentralization in Latin America, both as dependent and independent variables. It makes a contribution to the understanding of the region's political systems and their recent evolution, and suggests explanations for the differences found among the countries of the region. Furthermore, it provides an original point of view from which to observe events of relevance for the study of Latin America. Of particular significance are the national party systems development and shifts, the interrelation between national and subnational party arenas, and the motivations behind the actions of individuals politicians and political parties considered as organization with given goals.