Public Opinion and Turmoil In Latin American Democracies

This book analyzes the impacts of growing political turmoil and distrust in democracy on public opinion, political communication and electoral behavior of Latin American citizens over the first two decades of the 21st century. During this period, Latin American's young democracies, which were in the process of consolidation, have faced a number of unresolved challenges, such as growing distrust in representative institutions and the judiciary, anti-system protests, the emergence of radical right groups and the election of outsiders and populist leaders. At the same time, Latin American citizens became more suspicious of corporate communication channels and started to trust more in information from social media, while scientific denialism and support to the Armed Forces and to religious groups have also grown.
The rise of new right-wing and left-wing forces in Latin America, along with the proliferation of populist leaders from various ideological camps, have produced informational reconfigurations, with the strengthening of digital social media as an important source of political information and disinformation. All these processes have deeply affected public opinion and political behavior in the region, making election campaigns more polarized, radicalized and based on false messages, while the electorate also has gone through major changes, becoming more independent of parties, less young, more religious and with a greater presence of women.
Public Opinion and Turmoil in Latin American Democracies analyzes how political turbulence, sociodemographic changes and frustration with the unfulfilled promises of the democratic regimes inaugurated in the last decades of the 20th century have produced important transformations on public opinion that deeply reshaped political behavior leading to an unprecedented crisis of democracy across the region.  
 

List of contents

Turmoil in Latin American Democracy and Changes in the Public Opinion.- Population Aging and Dissatisfaction with Democracy: Evidence from a 2-level model in Latin America.- Representation Crisis, Reconfiguration of Political Information Sources, and Digital Political Leadership in Brazil, México and Peru.- Remaining in office despite the crimes: the impeachment resolutions against Bolsonaro (Brazil) and Piñera (Chile).- Protests and emergence of new Brazilian right-wing: perception of democracy, ideologies and values.- Right-Wing Convergence, Progressive Fragmentation, and Media Alignments. Deciphering the Limitations of the Second Peruvian Estallido.- The polarized public opinion in Bolivia and Spain: Democratic conflict or political intolerance?.- "I do not vote for women because...": the justifications that latino people give to explain the female underrepresentation in electoral politics.- Race, Gender, and Class in Francia Márquez's Electoral Campaign in Colombia.- The 2023 elections in Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay in comparative perspective.- The Election of Outsider Deputies in Chile and Brazil.- When the reality imposes a tipping point: denialism and conspiracy theories in the evaluations of Bolsonaro's performance in environmental policies and Covid-19 responses in Brazil.- Religion and Dominionism: the battle for God against Evil in Brazilian politics.

About the author

Helcimara Telles is a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, and coordinator of the Political Communication and Electoral Behavior Research Group (LATICOM), linked to the Latin American Political Science Association (ALACIP). She is currently President of the Brazilian Association of Electoral Studies (ABRAPEL) and was director of the Southeast Regional of the Brazilian Association of Political Science (ABCP) and representative of Brazil at WAPOR – World Association for Public Opinion Research. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, and completed a postdoctoral internship at the Complutense University of Madrid and was a visiting professor at the University of Salamanca, both in Spain. She researches public opinion, political behavior and elections and is author of national and international articles and books in this line of research. She also received the award for best article presented at the Wapor Latin American Congress (2011), with the article "Ideologías, actitudes y decisión de voto en los votantes de derecha y izquierda" (Ideologies, attitudes and voting decision in right- and left-wing voters", which was published in the "Revista Latinoamericana de Opinión Pública" (Argentina). Among his publications, a tetralogy on municipal elections stands out, with Antonio Lavareda (Editora FGV/Brazil) and "The Latin American Voter", with Alejandro Moreno, published by UFMG (Brazil) and the Mexican Senado/CESOP (Mexico).
Joscimar Souza Silva is Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Political Science (IPOL) of the University of Brasília (UnB), Brazil. He holds the position of Director of Finance at the Brazilian Association of Electoral Researchers (ABRAPEL), collaborates in the Graduate Program in Political Science at the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), Brazil, and co-coordinates the Research Network for Political Communication and Electoral Behavior in Latin America (LATICOM Group), of the Latin American Association of Political Science (ALACIP). He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, is a researcher at the Public Opinion Group at UFMG, leads the Public Information and Elections (Ipê) group at UnB and coordinates Politeia, the largest simulation project in the Brazilian legislature, the result of a partnership between UnB and the Chamber of Deputies. He was a visiting researcher at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and participated in the Study of U.S. Institute for Global Scholars on American Politics and Political Thought with funding from the USA State Department. Received the Award for Best Doctoral Thesis (2021-2022) from the Brazilian Association of Researchers in Communication and Politics (COMPOLÍTICA) and Honorable Mention in the Antonio Lavareda Award (2015) from the Latin American Association of Researchers in Electoral Campaigns (ALICE). He worked as General Coordinator and Consultant in the Public Opinion Research market and in the Digital Transformation area. His research agendas include political communication; internet and politics; public opinion; public policies and political behavior.

Summary

This book analyzes the impacts of growing political turmoil and distrust in democracy on public opinion, political communication and electoral behavior of Latin American citizens over the first two decades of the 21st century. During this period, Latin American’s young democracies, which were in the process of consolidation, have faced a number of unresolved challenges, such as growing distrust in representative institutions and the judiciary, anti-system protests, the emergence of radical right groups and the election of outsiders and populist leaders. At the same time, Latin American citizens became more suspicious of corporate communication channels and started to trust more in information from social media, while scientific denialism and support to the Armed Forces and to religious groups have also grown.
The rise of new right-wing and left-wing forces in Latin America, along with the proliferation of populist leaders from various ideological camps, have produced informational reconfigurations, with the strengthening of digital social media as an important source of political information and disinformation. All these processes have deeply affected public opinion and political behavior in the region, making election campaigns more polarized, radicalized and based on false messages, while the electorate also has gone through major changes, becoming more independent of parties, less young, more religious and with a greater presence of women.
Public Opinion and Turmoil in Latin American Democracies analyzes how political turbulence, sociodemographic changes and frustration with the unfulfilled promises of the democratic regimes inaugurated in the last decades of the 20th century have produced important transformations on public opinion that deeply reshaped political behavior leading to an unprecedented crisis of democracy across the region.  
 

Product details

• Assisted by: Silva (Editor), Joscimar Silva (Editor), Joscimar Souza Silva (Editor), Souza Silva (Editor), Helcimara Telles (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.04.2025, delayed
• EAN: 9783031831041
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3183104-1
• No. of pages: 318
• Illustrations: XIX, 318 p. 57 illus., 40 illus. in color.
• Series: Latin American Societies
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > General, dictionaries; Soziologie, Kommunikationswissenschaft, Social Media, Latin America, Politik und Staat, Democracy, Vergleichende Politikwissenschaften, Political Sociology, Conservatism, Political Culture, New Right, Comparative Politics, Political Communication, Public Opinion, Protests, cultural backlash, Coups, Crisis of Representation