Willingness of Latin Americans to protest. An exploratory analysis using Latinobarómetro 2015

Abstract

Considering the context of economic growth and relative democratic stability that Latin American and Caribbean countries have enjoyed during the last decade, the increase in the quantity and magnitude of protests that has been experienced in the continent appears paradoxical. As a way of obtaining information to help understand this paradox, the present article seeks to investigate the factors that would explain the willingness of Latin Americans to protest, using data from the Latinobarometer 2015 Survey. Four groups of factors are considered: i) use of technology; ii) appreciation of democracy; iii) practice of citizenship and; iv) socio-demographic variables. The results show that many of the traditional variables used to explain protest actions do not effectively predict the willingness to protest. Nevertheless, participation in democratic processes and the evaluation of democracy are both relevant and significant in explaining this willingness. Finally, there is great variability between countries; the model has therefore been adjusted to explain the willingness to protest in countries where there have been high levels of collective action, such as Chile and Brazil.