The programmatic discourses of political parties in Latin America: class identity and economic policy

Abstract

This article develops a comparative analysis of the contemporary programmatic discourse of 19 left-wing political parties in Latin America, including 15 countries. Four concerns guide the development of this research: (a) is the identification with the working class present in the ideological bases of these parties? (b) do these parties advocate a social-democratic economic agenda?, (c) is there a relationship between class identity and the proposition of social democratic policies, and (d) is there a pattern in the programmatic discourse of the Latin American left-wing parties today? Focusing on the 2000s, the research resorts to the government programs published by the parties and holds brief discussions with the theoretical literature in the fields covered. The research found elements to infer the existence of a positive relationship between the emphasis on the working class and the proposition of an economic policy oriented by social-democratic values, as well a common pattern that brings together a significant group of Latin American political parties.