¿Democracia a simple vista? Personalismo presidencial y estatus democrático del país en la opinión pública

Resumen

A menudo se asume que las creencias sobre la democracia son independientes de las motivaciones políticas. Investigaciones recientes demuestran, en cambio, que las identidades partidistas y políticas desempeñan un papel crucial en la formación de actitudes hacia la democracia. Este estudio argumenta que los ciudadanos que se identifican con un presidente personalista son más propensos a percibir su país como una democracia. Los presidentes personalistas legitiman su autoridad apelando a sus supuestas cualidades extraordinarias y su estilo puede acentuar el sentido de agencia colectiva. Así, la gente puede sentirse más inclinada a pensar que su país es una democracia—pero sólo hasta cierto punto. Los presidentes demasiado personalistas pueden provocar la reacción opuesta. Un análisis de encuestas representativas de doce países latinoamericanos muestra que los votantes son más propensos a percibir su país como una democracia hasta un nivel moderado de personalismo presidencial. Los presidentes muy personalistas polarizan la opinión pública, y los votantes de la oposición se vuelven más escépticos sobre el estatus democrático de su país. Estos hallazgos sugieren que los presidentes personalistas pueden socavar la rendición de cuentas democrática al polarizar la opinión pública en torno a la democracia.

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