Abstract:
Since assuming office in January 2006, Bolivian President Evo Morales has
been hailed as a populist by media and academic sources alike. Yet, scholarly theories
have indicated that populism is unviable in office. This thesis will utilize a case study
of Morales' presidency to test hypotheses of populist routinization. After establishing
a working definition of populism, it will compare a baseline sample of Morales' prepresidency
discourse to a second sample taken after his transition to power to
determine whether the "essence" of populism has indeed been compromised.
Ultimately, this thesis argues that theories of routinization are incorrect: although the
characteristics of Morales' populism change after assuming the presidency, his
appeals to and identification with common sense and ordinary values actually grow
stronger in office.
