Parties in Government: Weakening of the Internal Accountability Mechanisms of Partisan Leadership. Comparative Analysis of the Brazilian Workers’ Party, the Uruguay’s Frente Grande, Argentina’s Frente para la Victoria and Ecuador’s Alianza Patria Altiva i

Abstract

This article develops a comparative analysis of a phenomenon present in parties as political organizations that acceded to the national government: the weakening of the internal accountability mechanisms of partisan leadership against affiliates. The cases selected in the study include the Brazilian Workers’ Party, the Uruguay’s Broad Front, Argentina’s Front for Victory and Ecuador’s Alliance Altiva I Sovereign Movement, in its first periods of government. Based on thetheoretical approach developed by Strom, thestudy proposesto contributeempiricalevidence to deepen investigations into the dominance of parties in public offices and to problematizethe conceptualization ofthe power party.