TheEconomistOctober9th 2021 45
The Americas
TheLatinobarómetropoll
Democracy’s scorecard
L
ess thanhalf of Latin Americans are
committed democrats and a growing
number are indifferent towards their
country’s political regime. A large majority
remain deeply dissatisfied with the way
their democracies work in practice and
they place little trust in their institutions
or in each other. They are opposed to mili
tary government but a growing number are
prepared to accept elected caudillos
(strongmen). And they continue to have
more trust in the United States than China.
These are some of the findings of the
latest Latinobarómetro poll, taken in 18
countries and published exclusively in The
Economist. Because the poll has been taken
regularly since 1995 it shows how attitudes
in the region are evolving. The latest poll
reflects views after the first seven months
or so of the pandemic, which complicated
the fieldwork. Facetoface interviews
were conducted in 17 countries between
October and December 2020. That was not
possible in Argentina, because of a pro
longed lockdown. Online interviews were
conducted there in May 2021.
The pandemichas hitLatinAmerica
disproportionately hard:with 8%ofthe
world’spopulationithassufferedaround
14%oftotalexcessdeaths,accordingtoThe
Economist’sestimates(or44%morethan
thealreadyprodigiousnumberregistered
intheregionofficially).Despitethisshock,
thepolldidnotshowa drasticchangein
politicalattitudescomparedwiththepre
viousonein2018.“Iexpecteda fallinsup
portfordemocracy,”saysMartaLagos,Lat
inobarómetro’sdirector.That thisdidn’t
happenmayreflect“thesenseofsolidari
ty”thepandemicgenerated,atleastinits
earlymonths.
Butthebroadtrend,expressedinrecent
protestsinseveralcountries,comesover
loudand clear.Compared with thelate
1990s,whenthetransitionfromdictator
shiptodemocracywasstillfreshinmany
countries,supportfordemocracyinthere
gionhaswaned(seechart1).Only49%say
thatdemocracyistheirpreferredformof
government. Support for authoritarian
governmentislow,at13%.But,worryingly,
morethan aquarterofrespondentssay
theydon’tcarewhetherornottheircoun
tryisdemocratic,afigurethathasrisen
from16%in2010.Askthequestionina dif
ferent,Churchillian wayand63% think
that,whiledemocracymayhaveproblems,
itisthebestsystem,downfroma peakof
79%in2013.
Supportfordemocracyishighestwhere
itismostconsolidated,inUruguay,Costa
RicaandChile.It ishigh,too,inVenezuela,
whichisnowadictatorship.Changesof
government following elections tend to
bringfreshhopeindemocracy.That ap
pliedin 2020 toElSalvador,Guatemalaand
Paraguay.ElSalvadorisanexampleofa de
mandforstrongpopulistleadership:Nay
ibBukelewaselectedpresident in2019,
bullied the congress and the supreme
The pandemic did not immediately upendpoliticalattitudes
→Alsointhissection
46 Canadianfootball
47 Argentina’slibertarians
Increasingly indifferent
Latin America, preferred form of government
% responding
Source:Latinobarómetro
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1995 2000 20151005
Democratic
Don’tcare
Authoritarian
Democratic
Weighted by population
— Bello is away