Regional economic integration schemes abound in Latin America,
yet
very little is known about the degree of popular support for such programmes.
Now that democratic regimes rule in almost all of Latin America, public
opinion
can have an important impact on national policies. This paper examines
the
attitudes toward economic integration in 17 mainland Latin American countries
with interview data from over 18,000 people. Bi-variate and multivariate
analyses
are conducted on the factors related to support for regional integration.
Perceived benefits of integration and perceptions of personal and national
economic situation prove to be important factors, as are higher levels
of
education, support for democracy and gender (males favour integration more
than females). Two novel findings are that a positive opinion of the European
Union along with satisfaction with the functioning of democracy are both
linked
to greater support for integration.
Energy diplomacy in Latin America