L

atin America’s recent “left turn” was triggered by a growing discontent with entrenched inequalities, social injustices, and perceived disregard for the marginalized segments of society. This resurgence of left-wing politics is by no means uniform, as the diverse nations of Latin America each have their own unique narratives and experiences. The region has emerged as one that bears witness to the ebb and flow of democratic ideals, often under the shadow of powerful elites.

Often times, right-wing forces have repeatedly dethroned elected governments that challenged the rich and accepted democracy only after removing the Left and widespread market reform. In this context, a question worth considering is: how would the Right react if democracy threatened elite interests?

Gabriel Hetland’s thought-provoking book, Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America’s Left Turn, delves into the confluence of the Left and the Right shedding light on the dynamics of political power through the prism of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Hetland’s work is the culmination of two years of immersive fieldwork, during which he meticulously observed and analyzed the attempts at participatory reform in cities governed by both the Left and the Right in each of these South American nations. He sets out to unravel a compelling puzzle: what drives political elites to embrace participatory democracy within select Latin American cities while neglecting it in others? The fundamental inquiry at the heart of this book is whether democracy can truly flourish when elite interests are at stake.

Democracy on the Ground presents an essential grassroots examination of two ‘populist’ experiments conducted in Venezuela and Bolivia. One of the central findings of Hetland’s research is that participatory reform measures were more successful in Venezuela compared to Bolivia, regardless of the party in office. Hetland posits that Venezuela’s ruling party achieved a unique form of hegemony, wherein it presented its ideology as a shared vision for all citizens. This political maneuvering forced the Venezuelan Right to operate within the Left’s political framework, ultimately compelling it to implement participatory reforms with surprising vigor.