Protest Issues and Political Inequality in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1299-1323
Author(s):  
Nicolás M. Somma ◽  
Matías Bargsted ◽  
Felipe Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Socioeconomic Resources

Many studies reveal that socioeconomic resources increase protest participation, lending more political voice to the affluent and reinforcing preexisting political inequality. But existing studies ignore whether this holds across different protest issues. We argue that some issues reinforce political inequality, while other ones do not. We differentiate between survival protests—in which people react to direct threats to their material and social survival—and furtherance protests—which press authorities to make policy changes that seek to improve some aspect of society. Regression models with Latin American survey data show that people with higher socioeconomic status are overrepresented in furtherance protests, by implication reinforcing preexisting political inequality. However, survival protests attract people socioeconomically similar to national averages, contributing to a more balanced political field. Our results emphasize the need to reconsider the place of issues in the study of protest participation, political inequality, and political behavior in general.

Latin and global populism will adopt a range of forms

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
Economic Elite ◽  
History Of ◽  
Persistent Inequality

Subject Latin American populism. Significance Latin America has a long history of populist leaders, who aimed to build direct links with the electorate. Primarily a response to economic and political inequality, it traditionally calls for income redistribution and weakening the economic elite. It has often but not always contributed to economic crisis over the medium term. Latin American populism has also had a contradictory impact on democracy, expanding the rights of some groups but also weakening key institutions. Impacts Persistent inequality may drive a new shift towards populism in Latin America. Right-wing populist models elsewhere will prove more exclusionary. Populism and weak institutions are likely to remain mutually reinforcing.

The Link Between Voting and Life Satisfaction in Latin America

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (04) ◽  
pp. 101-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro ◽  
Matthew S. Winters
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Causal Direction ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWhat is the relationship between voting and individual life satisfaction in Latin America? While studies of Western Europe suggest that voters are happier than nonvoters, this relationship has not been explored in the younger democracies of the developing world, including those of Latin America. Using multilevel regression models to examine individual-level survey data, this study shows a positive correlation between voting and happiness in the region, noting, however, that the relationship is attenuated in those countries that have enforced compulsory voting. We then explore the causal direction of this relationship: while the existing literature points to voting as a possible determinant of individual happiness, it is also possible that happier individuals are more likely to vote. Three different strategies are used to disentangle this relationship. On balance, the evidence suggests that individual happiness is more likely to be a cause rather than an effect of voting in Latin America.

scholarly journals Is There a Mineral-Induced ‘Economic Euphoria’?: Evidence from Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Fenton Villar
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Mineral Extraction ◽  
Economic Expectations ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractA development imperative emphasising the economic benefits of mineral extraction has led researchers to speculate about whether minerals inflate citizens’ economic expectations and, due to an upward shift in aspirations, cause a degree of dissatisfaction. Using survey data from 18 Latin American countries, this study finds evidence of the ‘euphoric effect’ of minerals materialising among household expectations concerning future changes in the economic situation of their country. Similarly, it also finds a positive and significant relationship with expectations concerning future changes in respondents’ personal economic situation. However, it does not detect a significant relationship between minerals and citizens’ life satisfaction.

Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and Black Empowerment

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Bobo ◽  
Franklin D. Gilliam
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
National Sample Survey ◽  
Sample Survey Data ◽  
Black Empowerment

Using 1987 national sample survey data that included a large black oversample, we reexamine black-white differences in sociopolitical participation. We hypothesized that increases in black empowerment would affect the level of black sociopolitical participation and change the nature of black-white differences in political behavior. The results show that blacks in high-black-empowerment areas—as indicated by control of the mayor's office—are more active than either blacks living in low-empowerment areas or their white counterparts of comparable socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the results show that empowerment influences black participation by contributing to a more trusting and efficacious orientation to politics and by greatly increasing black attentiveness to political affairs. We discuss the results' implications for theoretical interpretations of when and why black sociopolitical behavior differs from that of whites.

scholarly journals State Segmentation and Democratic Survival in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1242-1270
Author(s):  
Matias López
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Democratic Breakdown ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Historical Pattern ◽  
Distributive Conflict ◽  
Different Levels

Popular models portray that high inequality induces elites to sponsor coups and reverse democratization as a means for repressing redistributive demands. Challenging this prediction, Latin America shifted from a historical pattern of systematic democratic breakdowns to one characterized by the resilience of democracy despite extreme levels of inequality. This article argues that the reminiscence of state-led repression under democracy explains why elites more regularly waive coups as solutions to distributive conflict in Latin American democracies. I call this state segmentation, a concept that describes the asymmetries between the enforcement of citizenship rights for those in privileged positions and for the poor. Wherever state segmentation is high, the odds of democratic breakdown should be lower. I test the argument using logistic regression models to predict the probability of coups and mandate interruptions considering different levels of state segmentation in Latin America using V-Dem data. Results show that asymmetries in access to citizenship rights indeed prevent democratic breakdowns.

scholarly journals COMPARING IDEOLOGIES OF RACIAL MIXING IN LATIN AMERICA: BRAZIL AND MEXICO

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graziella Moraes Silva ◽  
Emiko Saldivar
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Racial Inequalities ◽  
Racial Formations ◽  
Racial Mixture ◽  
The Usa

Abstract By the end of the twentieth century, with the rise of multicultural discourses and identity politics, Latin American ideologies of racial mixture had become increasingly denounced as myths that conceal (and thus support) the reproduction of racial inequalities. These studies have largely been guided by comparisons between countries with widespread racial mixing (usually Brazil, Mexico or Colombia) and countries in which it was less encouraged and visible (most commonly, the USA). In this paper we move the focus to the diverse ways in which racial mixture currently impacts racial formations in the Latin America, looking initially at Brazil and Mexico, two of the largest countries in the region, and also those with the largest Afro-descendent and indigenous populations in the continent. For comparison, we analyze survey data from the PERLA project.

scholarly journals Ecosystem approaches and health in Latin America

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Machado de Freitas ◽  
Simone Gomes de Oliveira ◽  
Gabriel Eduardo Schütz ◽  
Marcelo Bessa Freitas ◽  
Mariana Panchita Gómez Camponovo
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Scientific Output ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Ecosystem Approaches

Important environmental changes that have become increasingly pronounced in the last two centuries and that are seriously affecting human health require the development of integrated and participatory scientific approaches that can result in proposals for institutional and public policy changes. The purpose of this article is to offer some elements that can contribute to a line of reflection based on studies with ecosystem approaches in the Latin America context. The authors begin with a brief description of current scientific literature in public health that links ecosystems and human health in Latin America; next, they describe and compare the two prevailing trends that form the basis for the theoretical and methodological debates on ecosystem approaches; they also review the empirical research in Latin America or concerning Latin American countries in which an ecosystem approach has been adopted. The results point to limited scientific output on the interface between ecosystems and human health; aspects involving public participation and implementation of institutional changes and public policies are still in a rather incipient stage.

Migration vs. development? The case of poverty and inequality in Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Escobar Latapi
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
Inequality Index ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
And Migration

Although the migration – development nexus is widely recognized as a complex one, it is generally thought that there is a relationship between poverty and emigration, and that remittances lessen inequality. On the basis of Latin American and Mexican data, this chapter intends to show that for Mexico, the exchange of migrants for remittances is among the lowest in Latin America, that extreme poor Mexicans don't migrate although the moderately poor do, that remittances have a small, non-significant impact on the most widely used inequality index of all households and a very large one on the inequality index of remittance-receiving households, and finally that, to Mexican households, the opportunity cost of international migration is higher than remittance income. In summary, there is a relationship between poverty and migration (and vice versa), but this relationship is far from linear, and in some respects may be a perverse one for Mexico and for Mexican households.

Palestinian Diaspora Communities in Latin America and Palestinian Statehood

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Yousef M. Aljamal ◽  
Philipp O. Amour
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
South America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The Political ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Right

There are some 700,000 Latin Americans of Palestinian origin, living in fourteen countries of South America. In particular, Palestinian diaspora communities have a considerable presence in Chile, Honduras, and El Salvador. Many members of these communities belong to the professional middle classes, a situation which enables them to play a prominent role in the political and economic life of their countries. The article explores the evolving attitudes of Latin American Palestinians towards the issue of Palestinian statehood. It shows the growing involvement of these communities in Palestinian affairs and their contribution in recent years towards the wide recognition of Palestinian rights — including the right to self-determination and statehood — in Latin America. But the political views of members of these communities also differ considerably about the form and substance of a Palestinian statehood and on the issue of a two-states versus one-state solution.

Sorting Out the Mixed Economy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy C. Offner
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
New Deal ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Associations ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
The Road ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The New Deal

In the years after 1945, a flood of U.S. advisors swept into Latin America with dreams of building a new economic order and lifting the Third World out of poverty. These businessmen, economists, community workers, and architects went south with the gospel of the New Deal on their lips, but Latin American realities soon revealed unexpected possibilities within the New Deal itself. In Colombia, Latin Americans and U.S. advisors ended up decentralizing the state, privatizing public functions, and launching austere social welfare programs. By the 1960s, they had remade the country's housing projects, river valleys, and universities. They had also generated new lessons for the United States itself. When the Johnson administration launched the War on Poverty, U.S. social movements, business associations, and government agencies all promised to repatriate the lessons of development, and they did so by multiplying the uses of austerity and for-profit contracting within their own welfare state. A decade later, ascendant right-wing movements seeking to dismantle the midcentury state did not need to reach for entirely new ideas: they redeployed policies already at hand. This book brings readers to Colombia and back, showing the entanglement of American societies and the contradictory promises of midcentury statebuilding. The untold story of how the road from the New Deal to the Great Society ran through Latin America, the book also offers a surprising new account of the origins of neoliberalism.

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