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date: 13 February 2025

Voter Behavior in Latin Americalocked

Voter Behavior in Latin Americalocked

  • Matthew M. SingerMatthew M. SingerDepartment of Political Science, University of Connecticut
  • , and Gabriela Ramalho TafoyaGabriela Ramalho TafoyaDepartment of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Summary

Voter choices in Latin America have structural roots that are similar to what is observed in other regions, but these structures are weaker and more fluid than in more established democracies. In particular, while cleavages emerge in the average Latin American country and voters’ choices vary across demographic traits, issues, ideologies, and partisanship, these cleavages are weaker than in Western Europe and the United States. These cleavages are particularly weak in countries where parties do not take ideologically distinct positions from each other and instead emphasize clientelism, which suggests that the overall weakness of these cleavages in the hemisphere reflects the weak commitment of political parties to programmatic competition. Elections in Latin America are strongly shaped by government performance, especially economic trends, but these forms of accountability are weakened in countries where the party system makes it hard to identify the degree to which any specific party is able to dominate the policy process or where identifying a credible alternative to the incumbent is difficult. Thus, while voters are trying to use elections to hold politicians accountable and to ensure that their policy preferences are represented, the weaknesses of Latin America’s party systems often make this difficult.

Subjects

  • Political Behavior
  • Public Opinion

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