4 - Direct Appeals

Summary

This chapter further tests the argument about how the experiences during a party’s founding moments shape which mobilization strategies the party adopts through a paired comparison with a new party that did not experience moments of solidarity with its organizational allies. Alianza PAIS was founded in Ecuador during a period of mass mobilization similar to the one in Bolivia and initially could rely on a broad coalition of powerful societal organizations – representing sectors similar to those in the founding coalition of the MAS. However, as this chapter shows, drawing on extensive interviews with early party leaders and organizational representatives, Alianza PAIS leaders had little trust in their organizational allies due to a lack of experience during the party’s founding moments. This made them hesitant to adopt internal rules and mechanisms that would institutionalize their tie with their organizational allies. Instead, ties remained instrumental and largely broke down when policy disagreements between the party leadership and its organizational allies arose. As a result, Alianza PAIS could not rely on organizationally mediated appeals and had to primarily use direct appeals.