Peruvians will head to the voting polls April 9 and University of British Columbia Political Science Prof. Maxwell A. Cameron will be available to comment on leading candidates and election issues as they unfold directly from Lima.
Cameron, an expert on Peru’s democratic process, is chronicling campaign events and making his on-the-ground research available through a weblog. As well, he recently organized a series of roundtables with local academic and non-governmental organizations on topics including the armed forces, whose members will be able to vote for the first time in this election; free public broadcasting time and access to the media; and discrimination based on sexual orientation as an election issue.
"The real story in this election is the sudden appearance of Ollanta Humala, the anti-system or ‘outsider’ candidate," says Cameron. "Humala is now ahead in the polls at 32 per cent, with pro-business candidate Lourdes Flores close behind at 29 per cent. A victory for Humala would place Peru in the company of other countries in the region that have recently elected left-leaning leaders, such as Bolivia’s Evo Morales."
Cameron is posting his research materials — chiefly observations and images from the campaign trail, roundtable discussion transcripts and analysis and commentary based on media reports – on the "Peru Election 2006" weblog: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/peru.
"Weblog technology enables me to make my work available to other researchers and the public in real time," says Cameron. "Until now, scholars had to publish their research material years after an election was held and usually in journals that few people have access to."
"With a blog, I can hold a meeting with a dozen experts, or follow a candidate through a shantytown or popular kitchen, and make the analysis available right away," says Cameron. "I can also convey the deeply thoughtful opinions and comments of ordinary people as they watch candidates on the hustings."
The weblog also serves as a repository for all the major polls done throughout the election. It gives links to the mainstream Peruvian news sources, candidates, political parties and electoral alliances, and other blogs. With more than 650 entries, the blog provides a daily chronicle of the entire election process.
Cameron’s blog currently receives about 2,700 visits per day — a total of more than 66,000 visits (over 150,000 page views) since its launch in November 2005. Market analysts, students, academic researchers and journalists from around the world use the weblog.
Cameron has written extensively on Peruvian politics, with publications that include "Democracy and Authoritarianism in Peru" (St. Martin’s Press, 1994) and a recent chapter on the "Endogenous Regime Breakdown: The Vladivideo and the Fall of Peru’s Fujimori" for The Fujimori Legacy, edited by Julio Carrión (Penn State University Press, March 2006).
Fluent in Spanish, Cameron is affiliated with Lima’s Universidad del Pacifico. He’s married to Peruvian Fabiola Bazo, who contributes to the weblog.
The "Peru Election 2006" weblog was created with the assistance of the Office of E-Learning at UBC and is linked the UBC Political Science Department.
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