Why Are The Peruvian Political Parties Important To Democracy?

Peru has gone through many political changes throughout the past twenty years. From these political changes also came about political competition. Political competition obviously varies from time to time. This depends largely, in a democratic government, by what the people want. In 2000 the Peruvian people were transitioned out of an authoritarian regime led by Alberto Fujimori, but only after his resignation. This essay will primarily address the Peruvian legislative and executive election of 2000, and show why opposition parties were unable to win a majority and defeat Fujimori. Due to the demoralizing of established parties during Fujimori’s presidency, and the inability of these independent opposition parties to form coalitions in the 2000 elections, they were unsuccessful in their campaigns. But, when these parties do form allies, as in the 2001 and 2006 elections they are much more successful, thus showing the importance of political coalitions.
Political parties are important to democracy for a number of reasons. They provide information on what a candidate stands for and how they can be expected to govern. In long standing political parties, citizens can
However, because candidate centered parties were becoming customary, “key decisions, such as whether or not to participate in a questionable election, how to select a single opposition candidate, and whether or not to negotiate with the regime” (Levitsky and Carmen 14) were all out of the question. And, if the candidates did belong to an institutionalized party, they would have had longer end goals, which would have encouraged them to coordinate a strategy. But, this again, was not the case. They each had personal ambitions and had no incentive to give up their chance to run for office. This lack in unity is seen in the legislative seats of that year as