ABSTRACT
Bolivia entered a period of crisis at the end of 2019, after elections held on 20 October that year failed and the first indigenous and longest sitting president of the country, Evo Morales, was forced to resign from office amidst social protest and military pressure. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a detailed analysis of how the 2009 constitution, despite all the praise it has received, has shaped political institutions in a way that turns them incapable of canalizing and solving public dissent, falling prey to caudillismo politics. It shows the influential role of social protest, rendering any political force unable to govern without 'contentious power'. The book assesses the land policy under the Morales government, tracing the development from a more progressive stance between 2006 and 2012 to one being marked by concessions to the eastern agro-industrial elite in the period between 2013 and 2019.
