Why have parties not emerged in Peru since the downfall of Fujimori’s regime? The book argues that during the 1990s, traditional parties lost their capacity to administer political capital to would-be candidates. At the subnational level in particular, politicians abandoned parties and turned to alternative sources of political capital such as private companies, media outlets, and local organizations. Freed from long-term partisan attachments, candidates banded together—only for campaign purposes—into what the author calls "coalitions of independents."

In these circumstances, the incentives for party formation significantly decreased: political entrepreneurs have learned how to win elections without incurring the costs associated with party building. Based on a controlled comparison of four Peruvian regions, the study found that in provinces where alternative sources of political capital were more available to politicians, parties were weaker and coalitions of independents more prevalent.

The study used a multimethod approach that included data analysis, more than seventy interviews, and nonparticipant observation. It was originally published in 2014 and has been re-issued in 2022 by the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, a leading research institution in Peru.