Latinobarometro Survey 2009

Every year at about this time gadflies of the region indulge in the publication of the Latinobarómetro poll. The survey chronicles opinion on a spate of questions among 18 Latin American nations. This year (the survey focus changes a bit every year) views on democracy and the free market formed the basis of pollster’s questions. The 2009 study, published in cooperation with The Economist last week, is especially interesting given the global recession and number of elections held throughout the region over the past year.

There is ample good news in Latinobarómetro’s findings. With the exception of Mexico, Latin America endured only a tangential blow from the global economic crisis, in stark contrast to the region’s setback from recession at the beginning of the decade. Perhaps because of this support for the market economy reached record highs in many countries. Interesting qualifiers to this are Colombia and Venezuela. Despite years of stable growth and a smart avoidance of global headwinds, support for the market economy has waned in Colombia, whereas in Venezuela over 65% of respondent’s expressed support for market economies, up some 20 points over 2007 findings. As The Economist notes, “the poll offers a warning to Mr. Chávez.” Though 45% of Venezuelan’s still back his government, 81% of those polled believe private enterprise is essential for economic development. Region wide, one-third now accept that privatizations were beneficial for their country, up from 22% in 2003.

Views on governance also give cause for celebration. For the first time since the poll began in 1995, governments garnered higher approval ratings than the armed forces, a real coup (no pun intended) for a region with hundreds of military interventions in its past. Satisfaction with democratic performance has reached its highest point in Latinobarómetro’s history; only in Peru is democracy less popular than it was in 1996. In Uruguay, a stunning 80% are satisfied with the way their democracy works. Popular opinion, in Honduras and throughout the region, was also strongly opposed to the coup in Honduras.

A few troubling trends are still at play. Support for democracy is coinciding with the worrying trend of extended presidential terms. Additionally, exceptions to generally positive trends are often found among the larger economies in the region, such as Colombia and Mexico. (Luckily, Brazil is a part of the good vibes.) Views on social issues are far from consistent. Homosexuality is becoming more widely accepted, even if homosexual marriage is still less than popular, but on the other hand, the same proportion of respondents (36%) believe that women should stay at home rather than work as was reported in 1997.

Development is an uneven slog, easily prone to criticism for what remains to be done or what appears to being undone. Two decades ago Latin America was uniformly undemocratic and there were few market economies. Change slowly began in the 1990s and accelerated in the 21^st century. Now the vast majority of states are democracies—though impaired some may be—with market economies—though undiversified some surely are. But as the 2009 Latinobarómetro study attests, people throughout Latin America are becoming more supportive of democracy and free trade, surely because they are realizing a better life for themselves as a result of liberalization. The glass is looking half full.