Amazonian Indigenous Participation in Electoral Processes in Peru: The Case of the 2011, 2016 and 2021 Presidential Elections Cover Image

La participación de los indígenas amazónicos en los procesos electorales en el Perú. El caso de las elecciones presidenciales de 2011, 2016 y 2021
Amazonian Indigenous Participation in Electoral Processes in Peru: The Case of the 2011, 2016 and 2021 Presidential Elections

Author(s): Oscar Espinosa
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Electoral systems
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: Peru; Elections; Amazonia; Indigenous Peoples; Electoral Participation

Summary/Abstract: Through the analysis of the participation of the Amazonian indigenous peoples in the presidential elections of 2011, 2016, and 2021, this article illustrates how, two hundred years after Peru´s political independence, they are still excluded from full-fledged citizenship. In the first part, it addresses the main obstacles to defining and measuring the indigenous vote, as well as the reasons that hinder adequate indigenous electoral participation. It then discusses the relationship between the Amazonian peoples and the national political parties, the experience of MIAP, and the formal restrains for the creation of an indigenous party. Finally, it analyzes the participation and electoral results in 22 districts located in the Peruvian Amazon region with a majority of the indigenous population. The data used comes from the Peruvian electoral institutions: the National Elections Jury (JNE), the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the official web portal Infogob of the JNE, and the National Censuses of 2007 and 2017. As part of an ongoing long-term research project, it includes data related to previous presidential elections as well as data from local and regional electoral processes. Moreover, it includes data from interviews with indigenous leaders and ethnographic observations.

  • Issue Year: 13/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 45-76
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: English