What Does It Mean to Be Anti-establishment? Evidence from Latin America

• In Event: Public Attitudes and Confidence in Democracy

Abstract

The rise of anti-establishment sentiments among citizens is a feature of our times. Although the surge of anti-establishment parties and candidates has been extensively studied, fewer studies focus on citizen anti-establishment sentiments. This paper aims to examine the latter in detail. We begin by conceptualizing anti-establishment sentiments as an intense and often angry animosity toward political elites and distrust of political parties. Building on this definition, we study the drivers of these sentiments and how they relate to akin concepts, especially, populism. To do so, we conducted panel survey studies before the 2022 Colombian presidential and Peruvian local elections. Using open-ended questions, we examine the sources of AES in citizens’ views, finding that corruption and unfulfilled promises are the main motives of discontent. We then exploit the richness of our data to characterize what kind of citizens are more anti-establishment and how this concept correlates with other political attributes like ideology, attitudes toward democracy, and electoral preferences. Our project delves into a citizen feature, likely consequential for democracy, but much less studied than populism, despite being more widespread.

Authors

• Natalia Garbiras-Díaz, Harvard Business School

• Loreto Cox, Universidad Católica de Chile