Indigenous Peoples and their Right to Political Participation: International Law Standards and their Application in Latin America

UN bodies have increasingly emphasized the need to improve the political participation of indigenous peoples. This book proposes a composite right to political participation of indigenous peoples, identifies its recognition in international law, and explores its application in two – apparently divergent but substantially more similar than expected – case studies in Latin America: Bolivia and Chile. The core sources of international law, including the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, serve as the main sources for the recognition of this right. This analysis ultimately integrates the non-(strictly)-legally binding outcomes of international organizations, the writings of publicists, and the scholarly literature of other disciplines (political science, sociology, and anthropology). For the two case studies, it covers a period of approximately ten years (2005-2015), and assesses the national legislation and their implementation, as well as the domestic jurisprudence.