Latin American Political Outsiders, Revisited: The Case of Marco Enríquez-Ominami in Chile, 2009

Abstract

This article applies the debate on the recent emergence of outsider candidates in Latin America to independent presidential candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami (ME-O) in Chile in 2009. We test five competing hypotheses to explain his electoral success. First, his support is explained by the consolidation of democracy, reflected by the disposition of voters to disregard the authoritarian/democratic-aligned candidates. Second, his support is explained by the decline of ideological identification, reflected by the disposition of voters to prefer nontraditional candidates. Third, his support is explained by the resurgence of the Left, reflected by the disposition of voters to identify with anti-Washington Consensus candidates. Fourth, his support is explained by the demand for quick government action, reflected in the predisposition of voters to consider candidates who will solve problems fast even if they do not ask voters for their opinions. Fifth, his support is explained by the declining support for established parties, reflected by the predisposition of voters to favor antisystemic candidates. We use survey data to test these hypotheses. We find no evidence to support the claims that ME-O fits any of the explanations. Though he was widely referred to as an outsider, his success seems to respond to national affairs rather than to a regional pattern.

Ideational Populism in Chile? A Case Study

“…We could have compared treatment effects across the two candidates who differ chiefly in gender. Though a leftist in his 2009 bid for the presidency (Bunker and Navia ), Enríquez Ominami's increasingly centrist positions may have confounded such an analysis by 2013, and his subsequent indictment for violating campaign finance laws would clearly preclude such an analysis now. Replicating the analysis in additional case studies of women populist candidates, or cross‐case comparisons matching other women populist candidates with men populist candidates who are alike on all other relevant traits represent fruitful ways to explore this hypothesis.…”

Taiwanese Attitudes toward the Political Newcomers in 2016

“…The second group of studies investigates the novices from the voters' point of view. They are mostly interested in the factors standing behind the debutant's success and examine the changes in voters' ideological identification and regime-related preferences (Bunker & Navia, 2013;Dugas, 2003;Murillo, Vaishnav & Oliveros, 2009). These studies demonstrate that the "novice" label can be enabling, as well as limiting to newcomers' political fortunes, depending on the circumstances.…”

“…In the study on novices in the US politics, instead of focusing on novelty, he distinguished amateurs from professional or conventional politicians based on ideology and claimed that while the former acts in the public interest, the latter realizes party goals and is motivated by material incentives. Moreover, the term "novice" is used in the literature interchangeably with "outsider" to underscore the politicians' status as newcomers to the established party system (Barr, 2009;Bunker & Navia, 2013). Still, the label "outsider" is not always synonymous with "novice" as it may also carry meanings unrelated to novelty, as in the case of experienced political independents.…”

Current Issues on the Political Representation of Middle Classes in Chile

“…22 Marco Enríquez-Ominami (MEO), in trying to capitalize on citizen discontent, obtained 20 percent of the vote in 2009, but was not able to achieve much leverage due to finance-related questions surrounding his campaign during the political-financial scandal that has swept the country since 2015. Some even consider it difficult to argue a populist dimension in MEO's political program (Bunker and Navia 2013). Furthermore, the middle-upper class is more resistant to populism, which limits the possibility of developing this type of proposal (Filgueira et al 2012).…”