ABSTRACT
In the 1970s, the great majority of Latin Americans lived under military dictatorships. Parties are valuable intermediaries between elites and mass publics in Latin America. Only a few Latin American parties have developed the coherent programs and organizational strength necessary for party government on a Western European model. Once Latin American countries became independent, rival aristocratic elites in different countries created informal political groups that gradually evolved into competing Liberal and Conservative parties by the mid-nineteenth century. Latin American parties, whether purely personalist or fairly institutionalized, tend to be elitist with respect to internal decision-making. Latin American parties tend to be organized around personalities rather than ideologies. The multiparty system is the most common one in Latin America, as it is in Western Europe. Parties are an essential component of Latin America's electoral process and perform a variety of other functions, the most important of which include political recruitment, political communications, social control, and government organization/policymaking.
