Bolivias demokratiska utveckling. Från klassklyftor till konsolidering

Sammanfattning: In this thesis the relationship between socioeconomic equality and democratic consolidation is evaluated through a case study of Bolivia. The country is one of the poorest in the Latin American region and has suffered a large degree of socioeconomic inequality. The country ended the transition to democracy in 1985 and has since then met challenges in consolidating the democracy and create stable political, economical and societal instututions. A theoretical framework consisting of the theory Democratic Viability and additional work of Robert Dahl, Axel Hadenius and Larry Diamond is used to discuss and define democratic consolidation and socioeconomic development. With the help of the theoretical framework and the method Process Tracing the Law of Popular Participation that was implemented in Bolivia in 1994 is analyzed. The application of the theoretical framework, through the method of Process Tracing shows how political, economical and societal forces in the society can interact and oppose each other. The theisis concludes, through empirical and theoretical investigations that socioeconomic equality creates a higher degree of popular participation which leads to a greater amount of legitimacy. This in turn affects the democratic consolidation. The lack of socioeconomic equality can thus be used as an explanation for the lack of consolidated democracy in Bolivia.