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2018 Update to Team Populism Dataset: Latin America

Fri, May 25, 10:45am to 12:15pm, TBA

Abstract

Team Populism is an international network of scholars studying the causes and consequence of populism (see https://populism.byu.edu/). A key area of emphasis is Latin America. Since 2009, we have published measures of populism for presidents and opposition parties in the region. In this paper, we showcase the latest update of this dataset, presenting measures of populism for South American presidents from 2012 through 2017. After presenting the results, we show how the new dataset compares to the previous one in terms of predicting the causes of populism (including corruption, inequality, and economic growth) and the consequences of populism for liberal democratic institutions (civil liberties, checks and balances, and electoral quality). We find that levels of populism have generally remained constant, with well-known cases (Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro, Ecuador under Rafael Correa, and Bolivia under Evo Morales) continuing as standouts. We also find that corruption remains an important trigger of populism in the region, and that populism generally has a negative effect on liberal democratic institutions.

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