Latin America Seminar
Latin America Seminar
Latin America Seminar
Jointly supported by Kobe University RIEB Workshop on Economic and Political Research on Latin America / Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)#23K01401
| Date & Time | Monday, October 2, 2023, 15:00 - 17:00 |
|---|---|
| Place | Hybrid (Face-to-face / Online Seminar by Zoom) |
| Intended Audience | Faculty, Graduate Students, Undergraduates, and People with Equivalent Knowledge |
| Langage | Japanese |
| Remarks | Please complete the registration before September 26. The seminar details will be sent to the registered emails. Registration Form (Due: Sep 26) |
15:00 - 17:00<
- Topic
- Societal Consequences of Populism in Latin America
- Speaker
- Yuko SATO (Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University)
- Abstract
- Recent studies regard populist leaders as a source of democratic erosion and examine their democratic consequences extensively. However, the societal consequences of populists in office are not yet fully understood. In this study, drawing on novel party data from the Varieties of Party (V-Party) dataset and panel data analysis across 18 Latin American countries between 1990-2018, we examine two societal consequences of populism: (i) popular mobilization and (ii) inequality. We first found that once they are in office, populist leaders encounter mobilizations against them because of their exclusionary rhetoric and attack on existing democratic norms. Second, results indicate that unless they are radical, left-populist governments do not have a significant redistributive effect compared to non-leftist ones. Thus, while left populists often emphasize the importance of inequality during electoral campaigns, they are less capable of reducing societal inequality once they are in office. The findings are discussed in line with the political consequences of populism in contemporary Latin America.