Resumen

ROMERO BALLIVIAN, SALVADOR. La elección presidencial del 18 de diciembre de 2005 en Bolivia. CDC [online]. 2007, vol.24, n.65, pp.2-37. ISSN 1012-2508.

The presidential election 2005 was called sooner than expected due to the serious crisis affecting Bolivia. This article attempts to elucidate the context in which the elections were celebrated, to analyze the candidacies for Bolivia’s presidency, and afterward to study the dynamics of the campaign. Subsequently, in the core part, we examine different aspects of the Bolivian electoral behavior that explain the results: the high participation, an ample victory of the MAS -of unprecedented characteristics in this quarter-century democracy-, the fall of the so called «traditional» parties, and the clear social, political and geographical division of the voters. A general view of the Bolivian vote in recent years ends the article.

Palabras clave : Bolivia; Presidential election; Political behavior.