Ethnic parties formed and became viable or successful in South America under diverse circumstances. After reviewing the case studies presented in Chapters 3 through 6, some clear patterns emerge. These patterns are illuminated in the following text. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the emergence of viable ethnic parties for democracy in Latin America and for the political future of indigenous peoples in the region.

EXPLAINING ETHNIC PARTY FORMATION

In every country studied at least one indigenous peoples' organization tried to launch an ethnic party. They did so even when their organizations were relatively weak and there were significant institutional obstacles or an unfavorable configuration of power in the party system. The reason that came up consistently across the case studies was that nonindigenous parties repeatedly had manipulated, betrayed, and exploited indigenous peoples. When indigenous peoples' organizations formed alliances with leftist parties, their class allies, they lacked decision-making power and were unable to place indigenous militants in a satisfactory number of candidate positions high enough on the list to gain office. The parties abandoned indigenous issues following elections and required that indigenous elected officials maintain their primary loyalty to the party rather than to indigenous organizations.

Thus, if indigenous leaders believe that they have no other avenue to winning elected office, and access to elected office is considered vital to achieving collective goals, indigenous organizations may decide to form parties even under adverse conditions.