Jean-Paul Faguet

And with a lag of about 10 years, they realized, wait, we don't have to join these elite political parties led by the rich white people who live in the expensive suburbs of La Paz, we can form our own political parties. And then when they start doing that, it's like, what kind of political party should we have?

And with a lag of about 10 years, they realized, wait, we don't have to join these elite political parties led by the rich white people who live in the expensive suburbs of La Paz, we can form our own political parties. And then when they start doing that, it's like, what kind of political party should we have?

And they form it based on the real cleavage that actually defines society, which is ethnic, identitarian, and geographic. Bolivia is a relatively big country by world standards. It's twice the size of France, which is the biggest country in Western Europe. And it's geographically and ethnically very, very diverse.

And they form it based on the real cleavage that actually defines society, which is ethnic, identitarian, and geographic. Bolivia is a relatively big country by world standards. It's twice the size of France, which is the biggest country in Western Europe. And it's geographically and ethnically very, very diverse.

So then who you are, what ethnic group you're from, whether you're from the highlands or the lowlands or the jungle is the big thing that really matters. And it kind of determines your worldview, not capital versus labor, because there's no labor and there's very few capitalists. And so then a new political party system springs up that's basically that.

So then who you are, what ethnic group you're from, whether you're from the highlands or the lowlands or the jungle is the big thing that really matters. And it kind of determines your worldview, not capital versus labor, because there's no labor and there's very few capitalists. And so then a new political party system springs up that's basically that.

And the new divide is basically your ethnic and regional identity.

And the new divide is basically your ethnic and regional identity.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's true. And so I wrote another paper for like an academic outreach journal called the Journal of Democracy that's trying to speak to the profession, but also to people beyond political scientists.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's true. And so I wrote another paper for like an academic outreach journal called the Journal of Democracy that's trying to speak to the profession, but also to people beyond political scientists.

And what I argue there is that Bolivia, because it was an institutionally weak democracy, but it's subject to many of the same international pressures that we're seeing play out in the US and the current election in Europe, in Britain with Brexit or the rise of the far right in France and Germany and all over Europe.

And what I argue there is that Bolivia, because it was an institutionally weak democracy, but it's subject to many of the same international pressures that we're seeing play out in the US and the current election in Europe, in Britain with Brexit or the rise of the far right in France and Germany and all over Europe.

The same kinds of things, issues to do with immigration and identity, you know, are the migrants a threat to the English identity in the countryside when suddenly you get a bunch of people from Afghanistan or Somalia in little, you know, quaint English villages in the countryside and the people who live there are completely shocked. This is, you know, so foreign to them.

The same kinds of things, issues to do with immigration and identity, you know, are the migrants a threat to the English identity in the countryside when suddenly you get a bunch of people from Afghanistan or Somalia in little, you know, quaint English villages in the countryside and the people who live there are completely shocked. This is, you know, so foreign to them.

These sorts of things hit Bolivia harder because it's an institutionally weak country and so it's a canary in the coal mine in the sense that we see the effects there first I think in a different form, Brexit, the rise of Trumpism in the US and MAGA republicanism, or the rise of the far right and the collapse of the traditional left in Europe.

These sorts of things hit Bolivia harder because it's an institutionally weak country and so it's a canary in the coal mine in the sense that we see the effects there first I think in a different form, Brexit, the rise of Trumpism in the US and MAGA republicanism, or the rise of the far right and the collapse of the traditional left in Europe.

The traditional left in Europe is really based on workers' parties and unions. The left-wing parties are tied umbilically to the union movement in the sense that they're financed largely by union-paying members and their dues go to the union and get transferred to the left-wing political parties. And all of that is falling apart.

The traditional left in Europe is really based on workers' parties and unions. The left-wing parties are tied umbilically to the union movement in the sense that they're financed largely by union-paying members and their dues go to the union and get transferred to the left-wing political parties. And all of that is falling apart.

And it's falling apart for some interestingly similar reasons as to what happened in Bolivia because people work hard in Britain and Germany and France today, but they don't see themselves as a working class. That's not how they conceive of themselves. They don't wear the flat cap, they don't speak with the accent, they don't eat the same food as all the other people who work.

And it's falling apart for some interestingly similar reasons as to what happened in Bolivia because people work hard in Britain and Germany and France today, but they don't see themselves as a working class. That's not how they conceive of themselves. They don't wear the flat cap, they don't speak with the accent, they don't eat the same food as all the other people who work.