Paraguay: The Unraveling of One-Party Rule

How did the Colorado Party lose its iron grip on power? Fernando Lugo’s victory, ending six decades of Colorado Party rule, marked the twelfth time since the beginning of the third wave of democratization that a hegemonic-party regime was transformed into a fully competitive one allowing a transfer of power. Recent scholarship has shed considerable light on why and how hegemonic parties remain in power year after year as well as what factors precipitate the end to their dominance. These studies have revealed that, far from being idiosyncratic oddities, hegemonic-party regimes have been a persistent, if marginal, phenomenon during the twentieth century.

Fernando Lugo’s victory in the 2008 presidential election ended 61 years of one-party rule in Paraguay. How did the Colorado Party lose power?