9 - Territorial Network Strategies beyond Argentina

Summary

This chapter extends the book’s arguments beyond the context of Argentina to explore their applicability in two of the world’s largest democracies: India and Mexico. It investigates the conditions under which a party can successfully challenge a hegemonic machine in areas marked by segregated vulnerability, and the factors that prompt brokers to switch party allegiances. In both India and Mexico, hegemonic machine parties maintained a quasi-monopoly over broker networks in vulnerable areas for decades, until parties lacking prior territorial bases began to recruit their own networks to challenge these dominant machines. This chapter examines the party linkages to vulnerable poor communities in Mexico and India and analyzes how parties with no prior territorial presence emerged to challenge these established machines. It explores the strategies these challengers used to build networks in areas previously dominated by hegemonic parties, highlighting the broader relevance of the dynamics observed in Argentina.