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Legitimate Grievances: Preferences for Democracy, System Support, and Political Participation in Bolivia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Amy Erica Smith
Amy Erica Smith*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Abstract

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Many cross-national surveys examine the extent to which citizens of new democracies believe that democracy is always preferable to any other form of government. There is little evidence, however, regarding how such attitudes affect citizen behavior. This article examines the case of Bolivia, asking whether and how Bolivians' attitudes toward democracy affect participation, including contacts with public officials and involvement in political parties and social movements. Through analysis of nationwide survey data, I show that preferences for democracy have little effect on participation in party meetings or protests. Examining the relationship more carefully, I then show that, for Bolivians who favor institutional methods of representation, support for democracy increases attachment to the traditional political system and decreases protest; for citizens who favor popular methods of representation, it has the opposite impact. I conclude by discussing the implications for scholarship on democratization, which often conflates preferences for democracy with political stability.

Resumen

Resumen

Varias encuestas multinacionales examinan hasta qué punto los ciudadanos de nuevas democracias creen que la democracia es siempre preferible a cualquier otra forma de gobierno. Sin embargo, existe poca evidencia sobre cómo tales actitudes afectan el comportamiento de los ciudadanos. Este artículo examina el caso de Bolivia, investigando si y cómo las actitudes democráticas de los bolivianos afectan la participación política, incluyendo el contacto con funcionarios públicos y la participación en partidos políticos y movimientos sociales. Por medio del análisis de datos de una encuesta a nivel nacional, demuestro que las preferencias por la democracia de los bolivianos tienen poco efecto en su participación en reuniones partidarias o en manifestaciones. Examinando la relación con más profundidad, encuentro que para los bolivianos que prefieren métodos institucionales de participación, el apoyo a la democracia aumenta la adherencia al sistema político tradicional y disminuye la protesta callejera; por otro lado, para los ciudadanos que prefieren la representación popular, el apoyo a la democracia tiene el efecto contrario. Concluyo con una discusión sobre las implicaciones de este artículo para el estudio de la democracia, el cual tiende a equiparar preferencias sobre democracia con estabilidad política.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , 2009 , pp. 102 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association in New Orleans, January 2007. Thanks to the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University for the use of survey data, which were collected under a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Thanks also to Jonathan Reilly, Mitchell Seligson, John Markoff, Chris Bonneau, Scott Morgenstern, Steven Finkel, the members of the Comparative Politics Reading Group at the University of Pittsburgh, and LARR's anonymous reviewers for their very helpful feedback on previous versions of this article. I also thank the Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh for a research grant enabling fieldwork in Bolivia in 2006. Most important, I am grateful to the many Bolivians who generously made time to answer my questions. All errors in analysis and interpretation are, of course, my own.

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