Economic Inequality and Civilian Support for Democracy: The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Nicholos Palmer (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Advisor
Dr. Kirill Bumin

Abstract: This study, initially, hypothesizes that in Latin America and the Caribbean, citizens who believe that economic inequality is high and should be reduced are more likely to lose faith in democratic institutions. Numerous academic studies posit that democracy is declining in the region and income inequality coupled with anti-democratic leaders are responsible for this declivity. Other scholars argue that inequality does not undermine democracy per se; instead, citizens are fed up with the contemporary leaders’ approach in solving the issue. Citizens then support populist politicians through democratic means. Using an ordered logistic regression with the inclusion of country-level variables, I found that citizens who believe that the government should do more to reduce inequality are more likely to believe in the exceptionality of democracy. I therefore rejected the study’s main hypothesis.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Esther G. Maynor Honors College
Language: English
Date: 2016
Keywords
Democracy, Economic Inequality, Civilian Support, Latin America, The Caribbean

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