Los dilemas de la representación política contemporánea en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, partido y Estado en tiempos de ‘Proceso de Cambio’

Abstract

Living a new age of political stability under the hegemony of a party (MAS) that builds its identity to a great extent by denying its classification as a political party and declaring itself to be a mere instrument for the social movements, Bolivia faces important challenges to its political institutionalization. On the one hand, it is undeniable that most of the country’s main social movements and civil society organizations find representation and political influence over the State through that party. But on the other, classical questions over cooptation and social movements autonomy return to the scene. At the same time, the opposition remains fluid and incapable of organizing stable and coherent parties, beind mostly reduced to some regionally located trenches. The aim of this article is to trace a map of the Bolivian political