Presidential Approval in Latin America (1996-2015): can more participation be a solution when the economy is going bad?

Authors

  • Daiane Boelhouwer Menezes Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos

Keywords:

Presidential approval, Mechanisms of direct democracy, Economy’s perception, Latin América, Multilevel models

Abstract

In a region where Presidents often fail to complete their mandates, it is interesting to ask, beyond the performance of the economy, how much presidential approval can vary with the use of direct democracy mechanisms and with political events. To point out the relevance of these economic, institutional, and properly political issues, such as the dismissal of presidents, in the assessment that citizens make of the Chief Executive is the goal here. The data come from Latinobarometro and encompass opinion surveys conducted annually in 16 countries from 1996 to 2015, analyzed through multilevel models. The coefficients generated indicate that among the micro-level variables, the perception of the current economic situation of the country is the most important, whereas among the macro level, elections, referenda and facultative plebiscites, as well as positive political events are those that influence more the approval of the Chief Executive.

Author Biography

Daiane Boelhouwer Menezes, Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos

Formada em Jornalismo pela UFRGS, com mestrado e doutorado em Ciências Sociais pela PUCRS (com sanduíche na Universidade da California), e é pós-doutoranda em Ciências Sociais pela UNISINOS. É analista pesquisadora em licença interesse do Núcleo de Políticas Públicas da Fundação de Economia e Estatística (FEE). Entre as principais publicações encontram-se o ebook da tese Democracia e Percepção do Regime: Plebiscitos, Referendos e Iniciativas Populares na América Latina e o artigo premiado pelo PNUD, Desenvolvimento Humano e Bem Estar Urbano nas Metrópoles Brasileiras.

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Published

2018-02-28

How to Cite

Menezes, D. B. (2018). Presidential Approval in Latin America (1996-2015): can more participation be a solution when the economy is going bad?. Revista De Ciências Sociais (Social Sciences’ Journal), 49(1_Mar/Jun), 134–165. Retrieved from http://periodicos.ufc.br/revcienso/article/view/18785