Populist attitudes and support for democracy among Latin American bureaucrats

Contenido principal del artículo

Mona Lyne
Tayla Ingles
Celeste Beesley
Annie Ackerman
Darren Hawkins

Resumen

Despite macro-level patterns that link populists in power with democratic backsliding, it is unclear how populist attitudes correlate with attitudes about democracy among individuals. Scholars have only recently turned their attention to this issue and produced inconclusive results. Using our unique survey of Latin American bureaucrats, we investigate how populism operates among bureaucrats, a set of actors with a crucial role in democratic governance. We analyze each of three dimensions of populism separately (anti-elitism, pro-people orientation and Manicheanism). Building on recent scholarship finding that populists are dissatisfied democrats, we examine the relationship between attitudes about each dimension of populism and satisfaction with and support for democracy. We extend current scholarship by deploying two measures of satisfaction with and four measures of support for democracy, including support for checks on the executive. We find that those scoring high on underlying dimensions of populism rate the quality of democracy lower but are not less satisfied with the system in their countries.  We also find that those with pro-people attitudes consistently support democracy, including checks on the executive. Those with a Manichean outlook, in contrast, are less supportive of democracy and favor increased executive powers. These complexities suggest the need for more research on the concept of populism, as well as supporting the need for understanding how attitudes among important social groups, particularly institutional actors, may differ from the overall population.

Detalles del artículo

Cómo citar
Lyne, M., Ingles, T., Beesley, C., Ackerman, A., & Hawkins, D. (2024). Populist attitudes and support for democracy among Latin American bureaucrats. Revista Mexicana De Opinión Pública, (36), 33–78. https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.24484911e.2024.36.86857

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Biografía del autor/a

Mona Lyne, University of Missouri

PhD in Political Science. Associate Professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City (USA). Her research focuses on clientelist erosions of democratic accountability and institutions and the politics of economic development.

Tayla Ingles, Harvard University

PhD student, Harvard University Department of Government (USA). Her research focuses on international political economy of climate change and the environment in the global south.

Celeste Beesley, Brigham Young University

PhD in Political Science. Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University. Co-Principal Investigator for the WomanStats Project. Her research investigates the political consequences of economic and other types of insecurity, with a focus on the political impact of globalization.

Annie Ackerman

Undergraduate Student at Brigham Young University studying International Relations. Her research largely focuses on international development, specifically the impacts of far-right rhetoric on hate crimes and populism.

Darren Hawkins, Brigham Young University

PhD in Political Science. Professor at Brigham Young University. Director of Global Politics Lab. His research concerns individual-level support for democracy and bridging the gap between academics and public officials with the use of academic evidence.

Citas

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