Electoral Protests and Support for the Political System in Latin America

• In Event: Political Regimes Dynamics

Abstract

Scholars see protest as essential for democracy to work because it is an expression of vital political freedoms, and when governments do not retaliate, it is a sign that those freedoms are adequately protected for citizens to be able to partake in this form of political participation. Elections offer a chance for citizens to engage in institutional channels of participation -via the ballot box, but electoral processes also offer an opportunity for disaffected citizens to protest. This paper explores pre-and post- electoral protests and their effect on support for the political system. We argue that election losers see their ability to protest as a sign that, despite an election loss, the system still provides open spaces for expression and dissent. This relationship, however, is contingent on the government’s use of repression. Additionally, if protests lead to tangible outcomes –a recount of the votes, voters on the losing side might gain confidence in their assessment of the process. We test these hypotheses at the level of the election and the level of individual experiences to understand how electoral protests impact citizens’ evaluation and support for the political system. We use the Latin American Public Opinion Project micro-level data combined with national-level data on Latin American elections between 2004 and 2014.

Authors

• Vania X Velasco Guachalla, University of Colorado at Boulder

• Carew E Boulding, University of Colorado/Boulder