Covid-19 and Presidential Popularity in Latin America

Sosa-Villagarcia, Paolo; Lozada, Verónica Hurtado

doi:10.14201/rlop.23664

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Not every country experienced the COVID-19 rally and, in those that did, rallies were not uniform regarding their magnitude, duration, and effects. As Sosa-Villagarcia and Hurtado Lozada (2021) show, the rally effects in four Latin American countries depended on the political environment and the specific policy responses of each government. Also, Kritzinger et al (2021) maintain that the different public reactions to the pandemic in Austria and France can be attributed to their political contexts.…”

Section: Covid-19 and Its Political Effectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sources of Government Approval During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Electoral Predispositions?

Pignataro

2021

Journal of Politics in Latin America

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Rally-round-the-flag events are short-term boosts of government approval during crises, and the COVID-19 pandemic produced such an effect in many countries. But why did some people join the rally while others didn’t? Using public opinion data from Costa Rica, this paper tests two hypotheses: first, that threat increases government approval at the outbreak of the pandemic; second, that electoral predispositions shape approval. Results indicate that COVID-19 contagions, as a measure of the threat, are not associated with approval, while past voting patterns are. Positive assessments of the economy and the relief measures also predict higher support for the government. In brief, Costa Rica's rally-round-the-flag event did not overcome the partisan divisions or the ordinary drivers of approval.

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Section: Covid-19 and Its Political Effectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sources of Government Approval During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Electoral Predispositions?

Pignataro

2021

Journal of Politics in Latin America

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“…These conferences usually ended with the president pleading with Peruvians to stick together in the fight against their common enemy, the virus. The appeals to unity paid off politically; Vizcarra’s popularity increased to 87 percent, with 83 percent of Peruvians supporting the containment measures (Sosa-Villagarcia and Hurtado, 2021).…”

Section: Peru: Structural Limitations With Few Blame-shifting Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In times of crisis, it is possible to observe a greater demand for strong leadership, but this is conditioned by ongoing political dynamics and partisan identities (Sosa-Villagarcia and Hurtado, 2021; Pignataro, 2021; Ayala, 2021; Kritzinger et al, 2020). In contexts where leadership has been built on the basis of polarization, the incentives to reproduce this type of relationship during the crisis remain.…”

Section: Preparedness and Diffusion Of Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tale of Two Crashes: Pandemic Politics in Brazil and Peru

Cameron¹,

Hurtado²,

Sosa-Villagarcia³

et al. 2023

Latin American Perspectives

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Health care system preparedness did not correlate consistently with policy performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Brazil and Peru, the preparedness of health care systems was inversely related to the perceived political risks associated with the spread of COVID-19. Lack of preparedness of the Peruvian health care system heightened fears of a system crash and thus encouraged a more stringent initial response by President Martín Vizcarra, the political actor both most accountable and able to act. In Brazil, the combination of a robust health care system and the highly fragmented political system enabled President Jair Bolsonaro to politicize the pandemic and prioritize economic growth while blaming his opponents for what he considered excessively costly public health measures. La preparación del sistema de atención de salud no se correlacionó de manera consistente con el desempeño de las políticas durante la pandemia de COVID-19. En Brasil y Perú, la preparación del sistema de salud estaba inversamente relacionada con los riesgos políticos percibidos asociados a la propagación de COVID-19. La falta de preparación del sistema de salud peruano aumentó los temores de un colapso del sistema de atención médica y, por lo tanto, dio lugar a una respuesta inicial más estricta por parte del presidente Martín Vizcarra, el actor político más responsable y capaz de actuar. En Brasil, la combinación de un sistema de salud robusto y un sistema político altamente fragmentado permitieron que el presidente Jair Bolsonaro politizara la pandemia y priorizara el crecimiento económico mientras culpaba a sus oponentes por lo que consideraba medidas de salud pública excesivamente costosas.

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Popularity and powers: comparing public opinion on presidents in semi-presidential and presidential regimes

Kujanen

2023

Eur. Pol. Sci. Rev.

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The role of the president varies between political systems, and so does public opinion on presidents. One of the most evident factors distinguishing presidents in different systems is the constitutional strength of the presidency, which should impact how presidents are perceived by the people. Public opinion on presidents has mainly been studied in the context of classical presidential regimes such as the USA and Latin American countries, and we lack systematic empirical research on presidential popularity in other regime types and in the context of the presidents’ constitutional powers. This article addresses this research gap by analysing whether the level of presidential powers explain variation in presidential popularity across different constitutional settings. Drawing on public opinion surveys and relevant contextual data from 15 countries, the results show that a higher level of presidential popularity is associated with weaker presidency and that the impact of the economy and electoral cycle is conditioned by the level of presidential powers.

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Covid-19 and Presidential Popularity in Latin America

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Sources of Government Approval During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Electoral Predispositions?

Sources of Government Approval During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Electoral Predispositions?

A Tale of Two Crashes: Pandemic Politics in Brazil and Peru

Popularity and powers: comparing public opinion on presidents in semi-presidential and presidential regimes

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