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Negative Partisanship in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2022

Agustina Haime Open the ORCID record for Agustina Haime [Opens in a new window]  and
Francisco Cantú
Agustina Haime
Affiliation:
Francisco Cantú is an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. [email protected].
Francisco Cantú
Affiliation:
Francisco Cantú is an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. [email protected].
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Abstract

The literature on comparative partisanship has demonstrated the low rates of party identification in Latin America. Such low rates are commonly interpreted as a sign of citizens’ disengagement with parties and democracy in the region. This article revisits this interpretation by considering voters’ adverse affection toward a party, or negative partisanship. It shows that examining the negative side of partisanship can help us develop a clearer perspective on the partisan linkages in the electorate. To support this claim, this study analyzes an original conjoint experiment in Argentina and Mexico, as well as two other public opinion surveys fielded in Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador. The study presents empirical evidence indicating that negative partisanship helps voters without an attachment to a party to distinguish themselves from nonpartisans, is independent of positive partisanship, and is different from a general distrust of the democratic system.

Keywords

PartiespartisanshipelectionsLatin Americapolitical behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 72 - 92
Copyright
© The Authors 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the University of Miami

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: Authors Agustina Haime and Francisco Cantú declare none.

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