Political parties versus presidents. An analysis of ideological congruence in Latin America

Abstract

This study aims the political congruence in Latin American presidentialist democracies. It analyzes the levels of ideological congruence between parties and presidential candidates with their voters. The data used come from Americas Barometer at Vanderbilt University and Latin American Elites Project at the University of Salamanca for 11 Latin American countries between 2004 and 2014. The results conclude that the ideological links in Latin America are varied. Voters tend to be more congruent with the political parties they vote for in the legislative than with the candidates they vote for president, reinforcing the idea of dual legitimacy and dual representation in these countries. The radicalism, and the number, of parties and candidates appears as the most significant variables to explain ideological congruence.
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Otero Felipe, P., Mateos, A., & Rivas, C. (2020). Political parties versus presidents. An analysis of ideological congruence in Latin America. Revista Latinoamericana De Opinión Pública, 9(1), 119–150. https://doi.org/10.14201/rlop.22648

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Author Biographies

Patricia Otero Felipe

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University of Burgos
Patricia Otero Felipe (potero@ubu.es ): PhD in Political Science from the University of Salamanca. She is Professor at the University of Burgos (Spain). Her research focuses on comparative politics, the study of parties and party systems, political and electoral behaviour, and the processes of political representation in Europe and Latin America.

Araceli Mateos

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University of Salamanca
Araceli Mateos (amd@usal.es ): Professor at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and technical advisor at the reseach department of Center of Sociological Research in Madrid. Her research focuses on the study of public opinion and electoral behaviour.

Cristina Rivas

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University of Salamanca
Cristina Rivas (crisrivas@usal.es): PhD in Political Science from the University of Salamanca. She is Professor at the University of Salamanca (Spain). Her research focuses on the study of Parliamentary Elites in America Latina and political trust.
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