The figure in which Latin Americans trust the most is the Church, followed by the public force.
By Ángel Arellano / @ Latin America21
What does the Latinobarometer 2021 tell us about the assessment of institutions and democracy in Latin America? The alarms are still on. The pandemic shook the foundations of society and its institutions, but it amply demonstrated that democracy is the best possible system to navigate the roughest tides. This learning also spilled, although discreetly, in the Latin American ideology in relation to the valuation that the citizens of the region make of democracy.
Dissatisfaction with democracy in Latin America
The most recent report from the Latinobarómetro Corporation, published in October 2021, has a sample taken in the midst of the coronavirus crisis between October 2020 and May 2021, records a small decrease in dissatisfaction with democracy as a system of government: 70 %, two percentage points less than those registered in the last report of 2018. In such a way that satisfaction barely rose one percentage point and stands at 25%. It is a low confidence, timid and sadly in a tailspin. The main actors in democracy, the political parties, have suffered an unparalleled setback. Only 29% of those surveyed in the 18 countries of Latin America declare party closeness. In 2015 this figure was 40%.
Dissatisfaction with the democratic system in Latin America is accentuated. The region averages 49% support for democracy. The most dramatic cases of low support for democracy are found in Honduras (30%), Guatemala (37%), Brazil (40%), Mexico (43%) and El Salvador (46%).
One of the interesting questions the study asks respondents is their adherence to Winston Churchill’s phrase: “Democracy may have problems, but it is the best system of government.” In 2013, Latinobarómetro recorded the highest value in support of this statement: 79%. Since then, the fall of this indicator has not stopped. By 2020 it was 63%.
Rise of the heavy hand as a popular idea in Latin America?
The decline in the numbers of support for democracy finds a correlate in support for authoritarianism, the possibility of military governments and populism. More or less, the new Latinobarometer says that 31% of Latin Americans would support a military government to replace the democratic government and 51% would not care “if a non-democratic government came to power if it solves the problems.” They are two percentage points more than in 2008. These numbers tell of a pre-existing situation to the pandemic. Support for democracy in Latin America requires a push and the yellow (almost red) lights are on.
How much louder should the alarms ring? In summary, seven out of ten people are dissatisfied with the democratic system, and only three out of ten say they have sympathy for any party. Our democracies are running out of popular support and without militants.
The paradox of power
Do the actors we trust least have more power today? Trust and power are unlinked? They are questions typical of reflections in frameworks of autocracies. But, in the region, with more democracies than authoritarianisms, Latinobarómetro refreshes that the trust of citizens is not placed mainly on the political elite responsible for driving the boat. It is headed by the Church (65%), with distance over the Armed Forces (44%), the Police (36%) and then a first political actor appears: the president (33%). Parliament (20%) and parties (13%) appear in the last places when asked about institutional trust.
The numbers presented by Latinobarómetro on democracy in Latin America in its 2021 report are worrying. They directly challenge the work of the political system as a whole. Very especially to the political parties. These signs appear in a context of the crisis of democratic institutions in several countries and the consolidation of autocratic experiences such as that of Venezuela and Nicaragua, and the historical permanence of the Cuban dictatorship. But also, the rise of some populisms that, from different points of the political spectrum (such as Mexico with a government of the left and El Salvador and Brazil with governments of the right), influence the public perception of democracy as the system that guarantees freedoms and social consensus. (OR)
* Original text published in Political Dialogue. Ángel Arellano is a journalist and doctor in Political Science from the University of the Republic. Coordinator of projects in the Regional Program Political Parties and Democracy in Latin America of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and coordinator of the Dialogue platform
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