Democracy and Accountability: Policy Change and Citizen Response in Latin America

Stokes, Susan

Abstract

Democratic theory predicts that governments will enact the policies they pronounced in campaigns and that citizens will hold them accountable through elections. Past research provides empirical support for such predictions. It is therefore startling to observe numerous recent instances, particularly in Latin America's new democracies, where newly elected governments embrace the very programs they vigorously campaigned against. It is equally startling to find that politicians who switched sometimes go on to be popular presidents and win reelection. This research employs interviews, survey data, and a campaign and policy database covering 46 elections in Latin America. It elucidates the inherent features, as well as the range of variation, of new democracies and explores the mechanisms that produce responsive governments. ? ??_??Á¢¢Á? /?? />? /??? ?/¢¥Á ??%% ?Á ?_????Á? ?> /???¥??> ¥? ¥©Á ?>¢¥/%%/¥??> ? >Á? Â?_Á ©???¢ ñ%Á?¥???/% Á%Á?¥??>?? />? Â??Á? ??¥?? ??¢¥????¥??> ¢`¢¥Á_¢ ??%% ?Á ??À?/?Á? ¥? _ÁÁ¥ ?>??Á/¢?>À Á????_Á>¥ ??_??¥Á? />? ??__?>??/¥??>¢ ?Á????Á_Á>¥¢ ?:Á? ¥? _ÁÁ¥ áúá />? %?ÂÁ ¢/ÂÁ¥` ???Á¢ ¬Á>??/¥??>¢ ??%% /%%?? ¥©Á ?Á?/?¥_Á>¥ ¥? Â?%%` ?_?%Á_Á>¥ ¥©Á ?>??????/¥??> ? ?Á¢Á/??© /¢ / _Á/>¢ ? ¥Á/?©?>À />? ¥?/?>?>À ?>?Á?À?/??/¥Á¢ ¢¥??Á>¥¢ ?> ¥©Á ???%?À??/% ¢??Á>?Á¢ ¿>??????/% />? ??%%/???/¥??Á ?Á¢Á/??© ??%% ?Á?_?¥ ??>¥?>??>À /??%??/¥??> ? / %/? ?/¢Á? ???????%?_ />? Á>©/>?Á ¥©Á Â/??%¥` ¢¥??Á>¥ ?>¥Á?Â/?Á Á>/?%?>À ¥©Á ?Á?/?¥_Á>¥ ¥? ?Á¥¥Á? ?>¥ÁÀ?/¥Á ?Á¢Á/??© />? Á???/¥??>

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Institute: Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES)
• Type: Standard Grant (Standard)
• Application #: 9617796
• Program Officer: Marianne C. Stewart
• Budget Start: 1997-04-01
• Budget End: 2000-03-31
• Fiscal Year: 1996
• Total Cost: $52,984

Institution

• Name: University of Chicago
• City: Chicago
• State: IL
• Country: United States
• Zip Code: 60637