Negative Partisanship in Latin America
Abstract
The literature on comparative partisanship has demonstrated the low rates of party identification in Latin America. Such low rates are commonly interpreted as a sign of citizens’ disengagement with parties and democracy in the region. This article revisits this interpretation by considering voters’ adverse affection toward a party, or negative partisanship. It shows that examining the negative side of partisanship can help us develop a clearer perspective on the partisan linkages in the electorate. To support this claim, this study analyzes an original conjoint experiment in Argentina and Mexico, as well as two other public opinion surveys fielded in Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador. The study presents empirical evidence indicating that negative partisanship helps voters without an attachment to a party to distinguish themselves from nonpartisans, is independent of positive partisanship, and is different from a general distrust of the democratic system.
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As citizens turn away from parties, negative political identities are an increasingly important factor structuring political competition both in new and advanced democracies alike.
“As citizens turn away from parties (Dalton and Wattenberg 2002), negative political identities are an increasingly important factor structuring political competition both in new (Haime and Cantú 2022) and advanced democracies alike (Bankert 2021).”
From Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil (2022) · cites this paper as Haime and Cantú 2022
Negative partisanship is particularly important for understanding political attitudes in Eastern Europe and several Latin American countries, contexts in which positive identification with parties is low and political competition is often dichotomized.
“Negative partisanship is particularly important for understanding political attitudes in Eastern Europe (Rose and Mishler 1998) and several Latin American countries (Haime and Cantú 2022), contexts in which positive identification with parties is low and political competition is often dichotomized.”
From Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil (2022) · cites this paper as Haime and Cantú 2022
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Cites
Hainmueller, J., Hopkins, D. J., & Yamamoto, T. (2014) · Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/pan/mpt024 · Cited by 1,990 · see citing works
Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social–emotional development
Vaish, A., Grossmann, T., & Woodward, A. (2008) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.383 · Cited by 1,191 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Previous evidence demonstrates that negative emotions, interactions, and social perceptions tend to outweigh positive ones (Rozin and Royzman 2001; Baumeister et al. 2001; Vaish et al. 2008).”
BackgroundAmerican Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective
Gidron, N., Adams, J., & Horne, W. (2020) · doi:10.1017/9781108914123 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
Party System Institutionalization, Predictability, and Democracy
Mainwaring, S. (2018) · Party Systems in Latin America · doi:10.1017/9781316798553.004 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
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Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil
Areal, J. (2022) · Political Research Exchange · doi:10.1080/2474736x.2022.2117635 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
- Authors
- Haime, A., & Cantú, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Houston (US)
- Venue
- Latin American Politics and Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 72-92
- ISSN
- 1531-426X (ISSN-L)
- 1548-2456
- OpenAlex
- W4210429645
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 16.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Latin American Politics and Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Dynamics in Latin America
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Politics and Society in Latin America
- Keywords
- negative partisanship, party identification, political disengagement, conjoint experiment, Latin America, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador
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