Unpacking US Democracy Promotion in Bolivia From Soft Tactics to Regime Change

U. S. democracy promotion programs in Bolivia in the early 2000s originally sought to stabilize the neoliberal state through "soft" tactics whose origins were rooted in the "inclusive" neoliberal project of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's first presidency. As left indigenous social forces tipped the balance of power away from U. S. political allies, these programs were reconfigured to undermine the rise of Evo Morales's Movement toward Socialism (MAS) through "hard" tactics including support for the right-wing departments of the western part of the country, where autonomist forces mobilized to destabilize the MAS after Morales won the presidential elections in December 2005. U. S. programs also continued to channel support to moderate civil society organizations and nongovernmental organizations that sought to confine the popular revolt within a liberal-institutional framework. Soft and hard tactics combined to promote neoliberal polyarchy.