"No es la democracia que míster superman quiere imponernos desde Washington" : An analysis of populist attitudes on democracy from Latin American legislators

Abstract

[EN] In studies on Populism, extensive discussion has mounted around whether thephenomenon represents a threat to democracy or a corrective force. In line withthis concern, we examine whether the populist attitudes held by legislators arerelated to their opinions on the functioning of and satisfaction with three centralaspects of governance: (I) democracy itself; (II) its institutions; and (III) the sepa-ration of powers. Using the ideational approach and survey information collectedfor the PELA- USAL database, we first measure the populist attitudes of legisla-tors in 12 Latin American countries. We then test through multivariate analysistwo theoretical arguments: (1) that populism is relatively hostile to democracyand its institutions; and (2) that ideological extremism and the situation of the leg-islator in the government/opposition dynamic serve as moderators (enhancers)of that hostility. The results suggest that the populist attitudes of these legislatorsare indeed significantly connected to lower levels of trust and satisfaction withdemocracy and its institutions and that populism in combination with ideologicalextremism sharpens that critical perspective, while a legislator's affiliation withthe ruling party or coalition in government tends to temper it.