Threats and sympathy for authoritarian candidates: evidence from Peru

Abstract

This article assesses whether the relationship between authoritarian predispositions and sympathy for authoritarian candidates is amplified in the presence of economic or security threats. The analysis is carried out on data from a national survey applied after the first round of the last presidential election of 2016 in Peru that included measures of sympathy for three candidates: Keiko Fujimori, perceived as authoritarian, and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Verónika Mendoza, considered non-authoritarian candidates. The instrument included a vignette experiment with news about the economy and crime, worded in such a way as to emphasize the threats about these issues. This survey also measured individuals’ authoritarianism through attitudes towards child rearing. Results indicate that in threatening situations, especially economic ones, the most authoritarian citizens more greatly value an authoritarian candidate like Keiko Fujimori. This effect is not detected for nonauthoritarian candidates competing in this election.
  • Referencias
  • Cómo citar
  • Del mismo autor
  • Métricas
Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J. y Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper.
Altemeyer, B. (1996). The authoritarian specter. Harvard University Press.
Azpuru, D. y Malone, M. F. T. (2018). Parenting Attitudes and Public Support for Political Authoritarianism in Latin America. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 31(3), 570-587. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edy017.
Benhabib, S. (2013, junio 3). Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/opinion/turkeys-authoritarian-turn.html.
Bugonázy, A. (2017). Illiberal democracy in Hungary: authoritarian diffusion or domestic causation. Democratization, 24(7), 1307-1325. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2017.1328676.
Carrión, J., Zárate, P., Boidi, M. F. y Zechmeister, E. J. (2018). Cultura Política de la Democracia en Perú y en las Américas, 2016/7: Un estudio comparado sobre democracia y gobernabilidad. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.
Christiansen, A. (2016). Ideología, emociones y actitudes políticas durante las elecciones generales peruanas de 2011. [Tesis de pregrado no publicada]. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Cohen, M. J. y Smith, A. E. (2016). Do authoritarians vote for authoritarians? Evidence from Latin America. Research and Politics, 3(4), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177 %2F2053168016684066.
Costa, G. y Romero, C. (2014). ¿Quiénes son los criminales en el Perú y por qué? Factores de riesgo social e historias criminales.
Dammert, L. y Malone, M. F. T. (2008). Fear of Crime or Fear of Life? Public Insecurities in Chile. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 22(1), 79-101. https://doi.org/10.1111/1470-9856.00065.
Federico, C., Johnson, C. y Lavine, H. (2016, marzo 8). Here?s why Trump?s supporters tolerate his «liberal» economic positions. The Washington Post: The Monkey Cage. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/08/heres-why-trumps-
supporters-tolerate-his-liberal-economic-positions/.
Feldman, S. (2003). Enforcing social conformity: A theory of authoritarianism. Political Psychology, 24(1), 41-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00316.
Feldman, S. y Stenner, K. (1997). Perceived threat and authoritarianism. Political Psychology, 18(4), 741-770. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00077.
Fromm, E. (1941). Escape from freedom. Farrar & Rinehart.
Gestión. (2015, agosto 27). PPK: Estas son las propuestas del equipo económico de Kuczynski.
https://gestion.pe/economia/ppk-son-propuestas-equipo-economico-kuczynski-98467.
Gestión. (2016, mayo 29). Construiremos 20 cárceles para delincuentes juveniles y peligrosos. http://gestion.pe/politica/keiko-fujimori-construiremos-20-carceles-delincuentes-juveniles-y-peligrosos-2161940.
GFK. (2016). Estudio de opinión pública nacional – urbano rural. https://www.gfk.com/fileadmin/user_upload/dyna_content/PE/GfK_Opinio__n_Mayo_2016_1.pdf.
Haynes, J. (2001). Democracy in the Developing World: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Polity Press.
Hetherington, M. y Suhay, E. (2011). Authoritarianism, threat, and Americans’ support for the war on terror. American Journal of Political Science, 55(3), 546-560. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00514.x.
Janowitz, M. y Marvick, D. (1953). Authoritarianism and Political Behavior. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 17(2), 185-201.
Jaramillo, F. y Zambrano, O. (2013). La clase media en Perú: cuantificación y evolución reciente. (Nota Técnica # IDB-TN-550). Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.
Lakoff, G. (2016, julio 22). Understanding Trump. Common Dreams. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/07/22/understanding-trump.
La República. (2016, enero 5). Verónika Mendoza: «Nuestra mejor arma contra la delincuencia será la inteligencia». https://larepublica.pe/politica/731511-veronika-mendoza-nuestra-mejor-arma-contra-la-delincuencia-sera-la-inteligencia.
Lavine, H., Lodge, M. y Freitas K. (2005). Threat, Authoritarianism, and Selective Exposure to Information. Political Psychology, 26(2), 219-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2005.00416.x.
Levitsky, S. y Way, L. A. (2010). Competitive authoritarianism: Hybrid regimes after the Cold War. Cambridge University Press.
Lolas, J. (2016, junio 3). Keiko: mano dura contra delincuentes desde el 28. La Primera. http://www.laprimera.pe/keiko-mano-dura-contra-delincuentes-desde-el-28.
MacWilliams, M. C. (2016). Who Decides When The Party Doesn’t? Authoritarian Voters and the Rise of Donald Trump. PS: Political Science & Politics, 49(4), 716-721. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096516001463.
Merolla, J. L. y Zechmeister, E. J. (2009). Democracy at risk: How terrorist threats affect the public. University of Chicago Press.
Nordland, R. (2017, febrero 1). Authoritarian Leaders Greet Trump as One of Their Own. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/world/asia/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-rodrigo-dutert-kim-jong-un.html.
Norris, P. e Inglehart, R. (2017, agosto 31-septiembre 3). Cultural backlash: Values and voting for populist authoritarian parties in Europe [Presentación en conferencia]. APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Palacios, R. M. (2016, abril 6). ¿Por qué la oferta económica de Verónika Mendoza es peligrosa para todos? http://rosamariapalacios.pe/2016/04/06/por-que-la-oferta-economica-
de-veronika-mendoza-es-peligrosa-para-todos/.
Paredes, C. (2016, abril 15). La economía y las elecciones del 2016 en el Perú. Foro Económico.
http://focoeconomico.org/2016/04/15/la-economia-y-las-elecciones-del-2016-en-el-peru/.
Roccato, M., Vieno A. y Russo, S. (2014). The country’s crime rate moderates the relation between authoritarian predispositions and the manifestations of authoritarianism: A multilevel, multinational study. European Journal of Personality, 28(1), 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1922.
Rottenbacher de Rojas, J. M. (2012). Vigencia del continuo ideológico izquierda/derecha durante las elecciones presidenciales de 2011 en Lima-Perú. Revista de Psicología (PUCP), 30(2), 281-315.
Singer, A. J., Chouhy C., Lehmann P. S., Stevens, J. N. y Gertz, M. (2019). Economic anxieties, fear of crime, and punitive attitudes in Latin America. Punishment & Society, 22(2), 181-206. https://doi.org/10.1177 %2F1462474519873659.
Stampini, M., Robles, M., Sáenz, M., Irrabarán, P. y Medellín, N. (2015). Pobreza, vulnerabilidad y la clase media en América Latina. (IDB Working Series Papers, No. IDB-WP-591). Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Stenner, K. (2005). The authoritarian dynamic. Cambridge University Press.
Stevens, D., Bishin, B. G. y Barr, R. R. (2006). Authoritarian attitudes, democracy, and policy preferences among Latin American elites. American Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 606-620. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00204.x.
Sulmont, D. (2018). ¿Existe el voto programático en elecciones con un sistema de partidos políticos débil? Un análisis de las elecciones presidenciales peruanas de 2016. Revista de Ciencia Política, 38(3), 429-457. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-090X2018000300429.
Taub, A. (2016, marzo 1). The rise of American authoritarianism. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism.
Weyland, K. (2000). A Paradox of Success? Determinants of Political Support for President Fujimori. International Studies Quarterly, 44(3), 481-501. https://doi.org/10.1111/0020-8833.00168.
Maldonado, A. (2020). Threats and sympathy for authoritarian candidates: evidence from Peru. Revista Latinoamericana De Opinión Pública, 9(2), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.14201/rlop.22734

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Arturo Maldonado

,
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Arturo MaldonadoProfesor auxiliar. Sección Ciencia Política y Gobierno Departamento de Ciencias Sociales 
+