Democracy on the Ground examines the complex relationship of the Left, the Right, and democracy through the lens of local politics in Venezuela and Bolivia. Drawing on two years of fieldwork, Gabriel Hetland compares attempts at participatory reform in cities governed by the Left and Right, finding that such measures were more successful in Venezuela than Bolivia regardless of which type of party held office. Accounting for these unexpected findings, he shows that, just as rightwing hegemony can reshape the Left, leftist hegemony can reshape the Right. Offering new perspectives on participation, populism, and Latin American politics, the book challenges widespread ideas about the constraints on democracy.