The generation of political turnover and the new civil society: Who is leading whom?

Abstract

The crisis of representation of the center-left political parties questions the quality of Chilean democracy and its ability to lead the new civil society. In this context, we were interested to know the potential of the next generation of leaders of political parties to adapt to social changes and their visions on this issues. The study analyzes the new generational partisan status in the political arena and their social practices with new civil society. The results indicate that the generation on study is in better position to understand trends and logics of the new civil society because of: 1) their generational condition, 2) their critical view of traditional forms of political parties power reproduction and, 3) their own need of social legitimacy. The distinctive political practices identified are associated to the the emergence of audience democracy, plural partnerships and the mainstreaming of territory.