Since 2004, the Americas Barometer, prepared by Lapop and Vanderbilt University (United States), has been studying support for democracy in the region. In these 20 years and according to the latest Barometer report for Latin America – presented in November – an inescapable conclusion is drawn: Year after year, the people of Latin America support democracy less and less.
Colombia is one of the countries in which support for democracy fell the most in the 2023 report, along with Ecuador and Peru. While Uruguay, Costa Rica and Chile are the nations that register the most support for democracy.
In addition, In historical perspective, Colombia and Argentina have been the countries that have had a considerable decrease in support for democracy since the measurement began.
“The decline in support for democracy in Argentina is particularly acute: in 2008, 90 percent of Argentines expressed support for democracy, while this figure is 68 percent in 2023 (a drop of 22 percentage points). ). Support for democracy has also declined sharply in Colombia: from 74 percent in 2004 to 51 percent in 2023 (a drop of 23 percentage points)”, reads the report, which concludes that support for democracy in the region, in general terms, has eroded.
To better understand who is more likely to support democracy, the Barometer investigates the population groups, education level and wealth of those surveyed. Older people, with a higher level of education and wealth, are those who most expressed support for democracy.
Another element that is related to greater support for democracy is trust in institutions. That is to say, Those who trust the most in the structure of a State showed 78 percent support for this political model, and those who distrust the least gave only 43 percent support for this form of government.
The Judicial Branch is the institution that enjoys the most trust, according to the report. However, the figure is not very high, since only 35 percent of those surveyed expressed confidence in this branch. It is followed by the Executive Branch and finally the Legislative Branch. From 2010 to 2023, the Executive, represented by the president, went from having 49 percent confidence to 34 percent, becoming the branch that has lost the most credibility since it was evaluated. Likewise, the three branches of Public Power have lower levels of trust than the Armed Forces (54 percent) and the Church itself (50 percent).
“Democracy is more durable when people consider the political system to be legitimate and accept broad participation in it,” the report emphasizes.
Going deeper into the matterthe Barometer classified democracies as stable, authoritarian, unstable and at risk, depending on support for the democratic system and political tolerance by country. Costa Rica was the nation with the highest democratic orientation (support for the political system and broad political tolerance), at 36 percent; El Salvador ranked first among authoritarian democracies (high support for the system and low tolerance), with 51 percent; and Peru and Suriname were the democracies most at risk, due to low support for democracy and greater political intolerance.
“Data over time from the Americas Barometer reveal the persistent need to restore public confidence in democracy. Over the AmericasBarometer time series, support for democracy has declined in 20 of 24 countries. The attitudinal profiles that lead to stable democracy – that is, the combination of high support for the system and high political tolerance – are also lower in the region today than a decade ago,” the report highlights.
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