Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-16T03:49:11.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social Capital and Political Participation in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Joseph L. Klesner
Joseph L. Klesner*
Affiliation:
Kenyon College
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Scholars have argued that social capital—understood to mean those social networks, norms, and trust that allow citizens to act together more successfully to pursue shared goals—encourages political participation and a more robust democratic experience. Consequently, international development agencies have made promotion of social capital a major emphasis in recent years. Using data from the 1999–2001 wave of the World Values Survey, I show that in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru this relationship holds true. Greater involvement in nonpolitical organizations does lead to more participation in explicitly political activities. Higher levels of interpersonal trust also promote political participation. However, despite encouraging results from studies of popular participation in the region, Latin American levels of organizational involvement and political participation are moderate by the standards of more mature democracies, and levels of trust are relatively low.

Resumo

Resumo

Ciertos académicos han mantenido que el capital social, entendido como las redes sociales, normas y confianza interpersonal que permiten a los ciudadanos actuar en conjunto exitosamente para lograr objetivos comunes, fomenta la participación política y alimenta la experiencia democrática. Consecuentemente, en años recientes, las agencias de desarrollo internacional han enfatizado la promoción del capital social. Utilizando datos de la Encuesta de Valores Mundiales del 2000, muestro que en Argentina, Chile, México y Perú esta relación entre capital social, participación política y desarrollo democrático es cierta. Un involucramiento mayor en organizaciones no políticas genera más participación en actividades explícitamente políticas. Una mayor confianza interpersonal también promueve la participación política. Sin embargo, y a pesar de estudios esperanzados sobre la participación popular en la región, los niveles de participación organizacional y política latinoamericanos son moderados respecto a los estándares de democracias más maduras, y los niveles de confianza son relativamente bajos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 1 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

*

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, August 28-September 1, 2002 and the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Las Vegas, October 7–9, 2004. I thank the commentators on those panels, Mitch Seligson and Lisa Baldez, as well as Peter Ward and five anonymous reviewers from LARR for their comments. I remain responsible for the errors and omissions in this work.

References

WORKS CITED

Asher, Herbert B., Richardson, Bradley M., and Weisberg, Herbert F. 1984 Political Participation. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.Google Scholar
Bensen, Michelle, and Rochon, Thomas R. 2004 “Interpersonal Trust and the Magnitude of Protest: A Micro and Macro Level Approach.” Comparative Political Studies 37 (4): 435–57. (May).Google Scholar
Booth, John A., and Richard, Patricia Bayer 1998 “Civil Society, Political Capital, and Democratization in Central America.” Journal of Politics 60 (3): 780–800. (August).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, John A., and Seligson, Mitchell A., eds. 1978 Political Participation in Latin America, vol. 1: Citizen and State. New York: Holmes and Meier.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry E., Verba, Sidney, and Schlozman, Kay Lehman 1995 “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89 (2): 271–94. (June).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalmers, Douglas, et al., eds. 1997 The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America: Rethinking Participation and Representation. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, Ann L., and Foweraker, Joe, eds. 1990 Popular Movements and Political Change in Mexico. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Escobar, Arturo, and Alvarez, Sonia E., eds. 1992 The Making of Social Movements in Latin America: Identity, Strategy, And Democracy. Boulder: Westview.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald 1997 Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, et al. 2002 World Values Surveys and European Values Surveys, 1999–2001 [computer file], ICPSR version. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research [producer].Google Scholar
Krishna, Anirudh 2002 “Enhancing Political Participation in Democracies: What is the Role of Social Capital?” Comparative Political Studies 35:427–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mauceri, Philip 2003 “Globalization, Social Capital and Democracy: The Andean Region In Comparative Perspective.” Paper prepared for the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, August 28-August 31.Google Scholar
McDonough, Peter, Shin, Doh C., and Moisés, José Alvaro 1998 “Democratization and Participation: Comparing Spain, Brazil, and Korea.” Journal of Politics 60 (4): 919–53. (November).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, Norman H., Powell, G. Bingham, and Prewitt, Kenneth 1969 “Social Structure and Political Participation: Developmental Relationships.” American Political Science Review 63:361–78, 808–32.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa 2002 Democratic Phoenix: Political Activism Worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo A. 1994 “Delegative Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 5 (1) (January): 55–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pattie, Charles, Seyd, Patrick, and Whitely, Paul 2003 “Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Attitudes and Behavior in Britain.” Political Studies 51:443–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, Timothy J., and Clark, Mary A. 2001 “Does Trust Matter? Interpersonal Trust and Democratic Values in Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico.” In Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America, ed. Camp, Roderic Ai. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 1993 Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 1995 “Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America.” PS: Political Science and Politics 28 (4) (December).Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 2000 Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D., ed. 2002 Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Seligson, Amber 1999 “Civic Association and Democratic Participation in Central America: A Test of the Putnam Thesis.” Comparative Political Studies 32 (3): 342–62. (May).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seligson, Mitchell A. 2005 “Can Social Capital be Constructed? Decentralization and Social Capital Formation in Latin America.” In Developing Cultures: Essays on Cultural Change, edited by Harrison, Lawrence and Kegan, Jerome. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Seligson, Mitchell A., and Booth, John A. 1979 Political Participation in Latin America, vol. 2: Politics and the Poor. New York: Holmes and Meier.Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda, and Fiorina, Morris P., eds. 1999 Civic Engagement in American Democracy. Washington: Brookings.Google Scholar
Teorell, Jan 2003 “Linking Social Capital to Political Participation: Voluntary Associations and Networks of Recruitment in Sweden.” Scandinavian Political Studies 26:49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Nie, Norman H., and Kim, Jae-On 1978 Participation and Political Equality: A Cross-National Comparison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Brady, Henry E., and Nie, Norman H. 1993 “Race, Ethnicity and Political Resources: Participation in the United States.” British Journal of Political Science 23:453–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weyland, Kurt 2004 “Neoliberalism and Democracy in Latin America: A Mixed Record.” Latin American Politics and Society 46 (1): 135–34. (Winter).CrossRefGoogle Scholar