When the Business Sector Enters Party Politics
Conservative Mobilisation and Strategic Use of Threats
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8239357 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gabriel Vommaro (0000-0002-6582-4401, National University of General San Martín, corresponding author), Laura Wills-Otero (0000-0001-6330-8975, Universidad de los Andes) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Politics in Latin America (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1868-4890 • E-ISSN: 1866-802X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1866802x261422779 |
| OpenAlex | W7131776361 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
Why do business actors sometimes move beyond indirect influence and engage directly in party politics? This article examines the conditions under which economic elites adopt what we term a “party solution”: direct involvement in conservative parties through candidacies, organisational roles, and access to government. Drawing on a comparative analysis of Argentina and Colombia, it argues that this strategy is more likely when a sustained perception of threat to core economic interests converges with the availability of a conservative partisan vehicle capable of incorporating business actors. The analysis relies on process tracing based on press coverage, in-depth interviews, and legislative evidence. It examines Propuesta Republicana in Argentina and Centro Democrático in Colombia. In Argentina, business mobilisation responded to direct policy interventions by left-wing governments; in Colombia, it was driven by a forward-looking institutional threat. In both cases, business actors initially relied on conventional influence strategies before accepting visible engagement
Business sector · Core (optical fiber · Government (linguistics · Key (lock · Legislature · Perception · Process (computing · Psychological intervention · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Politics and Society in Latin America · Populism, Right-Wing Movements
Paths toward Democracy
Private Wealth and Public Revenue in Latin America
The Resilience of the Latin American Right
The Resurgence of the Latin American Left
Business Politics and the State in Twentieth-Century Latin America
Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions
Conservative Parties and the Birth of Modern Democracy in Europe
Welfare and Party Politics in Latin America
Quiet Politics and Business Power
Business Organisations, Party Systems and Tax Composition in Developing Countries
Threat (And Opportunity)
Hierarchical Capitalism in Latin America
Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian revolution
Dilemas de la vitalidad del partido político Centro Democrático (CD), 2013-2020
El reajuste de la derecha colombiana. El éxito electoral del uribismo
El Partido “Centro Democrático” en Colombia
Business and Politics
Exchanging access goods for access
Institutional Sources of Business Power
Together Forever? Explaining Exclusivity in Party—Firm Relations
Testing Theories of American Politics
Wealth Inequality and Democracy
Gaming Democracy
Conservative Autonomy Movements
Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing
Understanding Process Tracing
Estado y alianzas en la Argentina, 1956-1976
Local Economic Voting and the Agricultural Boom in Argentina, 2007-2015
The Logic of Process Tracing Tests in the Social Sciences
Group Threat and Policy Change
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |