Visions of Democracy in Bolivia Between the Dictatorships and the Process of Change: Suite in Two Movements

Abstract

This chapter examines two moments in the construction of democracy: the so-called restoration (1977–1982) and the Process of Change which began in 2000. Our approach is based on the visions of democracy of the mineworkers’ movement and the movement of the coca leaf growers (known as cocalero movement), fundamental actors in each process. Due to their resistance to the dictatorships and the force of the human rights discourse, the members of the mineworkers’ unions put the emphasis on “democratic freedoms,” despite their experience in political participation and their proposals of popular power. The nascent democracy adjusted itself to the liberal cannons. During the second period, the movements (particularly the cocaleros) reclaimed the principle of popular sovereignty, placing defiant demands such as the launching of a constituent process with the inclusion of the indigenous populations. These challenges were not always resolved in terms of popular sovereignty as a constituent power, but rather through the application of the decision of the majority.