The Socialist People’s Party of Denmark and Movimento al Socialismo (MAS)
The Board of DIPD has approved a proposal from the Danish Socialist Party, SF, to enter into a partnership with Movimento al Socialismo (MAS). The partnership will initially run from January 2012 to June 2013 and focuses on strengthening an inclusive political culture and youth participation.
Photo by César Catalán, on Flickr
The Partner
SF and the cooperation partner in Bolivia MAS had already initiated a partnership before engaging in a project within the DIPD framework. The two parties share an interests in social justice and sustainable use of common resources and they had engaged in a close cooperation on climate policies ahead of the Coop 15 conference in Copenhagen.
MAS can be characterized as a hybrid of a political party and a federation of social movements. The leadership of the party is composed of representatives of the constituent organisations affiliated to MAS.
The Project
The project consists of two main components;
- Organizational coherence by cooping better with internal disagreement
- Consolidation of a youth branch.
Organisational coherence
The broad spectrum of social organizations providing the foundation of the MAS is creating legitimacy and securing a broad representation within the party. But at the same time it is posing a strong challenge to the organizational coherence and efficiency of the party. Political disagreement is naturally embedded in such a broad political representation. One of the components of the project is therefore to strengthen the political dialogue between the government, the party organisation and the social organisations by enhancing the organisational tools and strategies for handling political disagreement within the party. By developing a consensual conflict management the cohesiveness of the political organisation can be strengthened.
Activities
- Reunion at the SF Congress
Bilateral meetings between the party leaderships to ensure the common engagement in the project objectives. A delegation with the representation of the MAS leadership, representatives of the regional departments and representatives of the youth will attend the SF Congress in Copenhagen. - Conflict Management Seminar
A two-day seminar on conflict management inside the party organization (following the SF Congress). - Workshop on Internal Communication
The workshop will be the first step in developing tools and strategies for a better information flow from the center of the organization to the local branches, social movements and members to communicate political initiatives and activities of the party.
Consolidating a youth branch
Bolivia’s population is very young. The average age is 21.9 years old. Even though the legislative framework allows for young people to vote and be elected at the age of 18 years, the young people are only very sporadically represented politically.Consolidating a youth branch within the MAS setup will empower youth participation at all levels of the decision making process.
Activities
- Regional reunions of the MAS Youth
These reunions will serve as an important step towards mobilizing and organizing the regional youth representatives that will contribute to the common activities in La Paz and Copenhagen. These activities will not directly involve SF- or SFU-representatives. - Reunion at the SFU National Congress
In connection to the visit in Copenhagen the delegation of representatives from MAS Youth will take part in the practical work of the organization regarding the planning of the congress, the organizational process with internal meetings etc. leading to the political proposals presented in the congress. The delegation will also visit one of the regional branches of SFU in Odense to take part in their campaigning and mobilization events. - Organizational workshop, REPLICA
Workshop arranged by the MAS youth and facilitated by an SFU-delegation with the participation of regional representatives of the youth. The workshop will guide the MAS and youth representatives in developing their own set of statutes shaping either a separate organization or a stronger youth branch inside the MAS party organization.
Details
- Title: Towards Organizational Coherence – Coping Mechanisms of Internal Disagreementsnand Consolidation of the Youth Branch
- Applicant: Socialistisk Folkeparti - Socialist People’s Party
- Partner: Movimiento al Socialismo – Instrumento Politico por la Soberainia de los Pueblos, Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP)
- Period: January 2012 – June 2013 (18 Months)
More Information
Contact International Consultant, Marianne Victor Hansen, at mvhconsult@mail.dk
