The following analysis draws on regional perception data to provide an overview of attitudes towards politics in Latin America, together with an indication of how these attitudes have evolved over time and how they may relate to regional developments in other spheres of life, with a primary focus on the economic sphere.

The study utilizes statistical tools to investigate trends and drivers of satisfaction with political regime performance in the region as well as the ways in which relevant dynamics may differ across demographic and socio-economic groups. An analysis is provided of the relative impact of “economic” versus “political” factors on political regime performance satisfaction, together with a discussion of the explanatory potential of “objectively measured” indicators versus that of “perception” indicators.

The perception data utilized in the analysis come principally from surveys conducted starting from the mid 90´s by Latinobarometro, a private non-profit organization based in Chile, which carries out an annual public opinion survey involving some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries, representing more than 600 million people.