A survey shows that
is one of the most efficient governments in
Latin America. While Chileans perceive their government as very effective at protecting human rights and promoting democracy, they find it less so when it comes to dealing with corruption and unemployment.
The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) released a comparative study titled La Cultura Política de la Democracia en
: 2006 in
Santiago,
, on June 12. The report finds that Chileans are satisfied with important aspects of the democratic system. For instance, citizens are strongly opposed to the overthrow of their democratically elected regime, and they are unwilling to support presidents who try to go around the democratic system of check and balances and neglect civil liberties.
Yet, an increasing number of young Chileans choose not to vote. Those who do not vote also tend to participate more in strikes. Young voters have a liberal view of issues such as divorce, abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality. The report states that
‘s current political parties still fail to attract and retain this group of voters.
“To re-captivate the young segment of the population and the new generations is one of the most significant democratic challenges that
Chile
faces today,” writes the report’s author, Juan Pablo Luna, of the Instituto de Ciencia Política at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Although they consider
‘s political party system as one of the strongest and best structured in
Latin America, a vast majority of Chileans do not identify with a political party. Almost half of them consider parties ultimately irrelevant for democracy.
The study is based on a poll carried out among 1,517 adults in July and August of 2006. It is part of a series of surveys by LAPOP’s AmericasBarometer, an effort to measure democratic values and behaviors in the
using national probability samples of voting-age adults. This new round of surveys covers 22 countries in the Western Hemisphere and is supported by the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Program and the Center for the
at
Vanderbilt
University.
Concerns about personal safety seem to affect negatively the perception of total government efficiency in
Chile
. Currently, public safety is among the problems that concern Chileans the most. Results of the crime victimization index place
Chile
among Latin American countries with high levels of reported crime. Chileans also lack confidence in their judicial system. Surprisingly, half of the respondents were willing to tolerate circumvention of the rule of law to control crime. By contrast, the indexes on perception and victimization show that
enjoys one of the lowest incidences of corruption in
Latin America.
The publication and data are free to the public and can be obtained at www.lapopsurveys.org.
LAPOP is part of the Center for the
at
Vanderbilt
University, an institute devoted to collaborative, interdisciplinary research for the benefit of the
Americas
. LAPOP was founded in the 1970s by Professor Mitchell A. Seligson, a fellow of the Center for the
and Centennial Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt, to conduct scientific surveys of Latin American citizens about their opinions and behaviors related to building and strengthening democracies.
For more information, contact the Center for the
at
Vanderbilt
University by email at www.vanderbilt.edu/americas or call 615-343-2818.
Media Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS
annmarieowens@vanderbilt.edu