Weak Parties and the Inequality Trap in Latin America
- Large majorities of Latin Americans support redistribution, but governments are not responding to public demands to reduce inequality.
- Surveys show that the economic preferences of poorer Latin Americans are not reflected in the legislatures they elect.
- One important reason is that strong, institutionalized political parties are necessary to achieve broad-based redistributive policy agendas.
- Yet, Latin American party systems are persistently weak, the result of institutional as well as structural factors.
- Structurally high levels of inequality undermine party institutionalization, creating a kind of inequality trap.
