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| Latin American Public Opinion Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | Latin American Public Opinion Project |
| Formation | 1978 |
| Founder | Mitchell A. Seligson |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Location | Vanderbilt University |
| Fields | Public opinion research, Political science, Comparative politics |
| Leader title | Director |
| Leader name | Mitchell A. Seligson |
Latin American Public Opinion Project
The Latin American Public Opinion Project conducts comparative survey research across Latin America and the Caribbean, producing time-series data used by scholars, policymakers, and media in studies of democratization, voting behavior, and public attitudes toward institutions. Its work intersects with research on democratization in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru as well as regional analyses involving Caribbean states, engaging scholars associated with Vanderbilt University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and FLACSO.
The project compiles the AmericasBarometer dataset, a longitudinal resource employed in comparative studies of political behavior in contexts such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras and referenced in analyses concerning the Washington Consensus, Pink Tide, Neoliberalism, Drug policy in Mexico, and Migration between Central America and United States. It produces publicly accessible microdata, questionnaires, and codebooks used by researchers at institutions including Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton University, London School of Economics, and University of Oxford.
Founded in 1978 by political scientist Mitchell A. Seligson, the project initially focused on national surveys in countries such as Costa Rica and El Salvador during Cold War–era transitions influenced by events like the Nicaraguan Revolution and the Falklands War. Through the 1980s and 1990s it expanded alongside comparative work on democratization traced to scholars associated with Samuel P. Huntington, Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and institutions like Inter-American Development Bank and Organization of American States. The project’s development paralleled major regional episodes including the Argentine Dirty War legacy, the Chilean transition to democracy, and constitutional reforms in Colombia.
Surveys employ multi-stage probability sampling, face-to-face interviews, and questionnaires translated and adapted for linguistic contexts spanning Spanish, Portuguese, and numerous Indigenous peoples of the Americas languages in countries such as Paraguay and Bolivia. Questionnaire design covers topics linked to elections in Venezuela, corruption perceptions tied to cases like the Operation Car Wash scandal, attitudes toward institutions such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and policy domains including resource extraction controversies in Ecuador and Peru. The project uses weighting, post-stratification, and fieldwork protocols informed by standards from organizations like World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, Gallup, and Pew Research Center.
The flagship AmericasBarometer series includes rounds covering over 30 nations—examples include intensive waves in Brazil around presidential elections, panel modules in Mexico during electoral cycles, and thematic modules on security in El Salvador and Honduras amid studies of organized crime associated with Mara Salvatrucha and Los Zetas. Other datasets address political culture in Cuba comparative studies, regional trade attitudes regarding Mercosur and USMCA, and migration intent studies linked to crises in Venezuela and labor flows to United States. Archives are used by researchers referencing datasets at repositories like Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and citing methodology handbooks from American Political Science Association.
Analyses using the project’s data have documented attitudes toward democracy in contexts influenced by leaders such as Hugo Chávez, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Sebastián Piñera, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador; mapped correlations between perceptions of corruption and support for judicial reform in countries like Guatemala and Peru; and traced civic trust patterns across urban centers including Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Santiago de Chile, and Mexico City. Findings have informed policy reports by the Organization of American States, scholarly monographs at presses such as Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, and commentaries in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, and El País.
The project partners with universities and regional organizations including Vanderbilt University Political Science, Centro de Estudios Públicos, Centro Nacional de Estudios Sociales, and international funders such as the National Science Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Inter-American Development Bank, and private foundations like Carnegie Corporation and Ford Foundation. Collaborative work involves research networks tied to Latin American Studies Association and grants coordinated with agencies such as USAID and multilateral programs administered by United Nations Development Programme.
Critics highlight challenges common to cross-national survey research: sampling difficulties in rural and conflict-affected zones such as parts of Honduras and Nicaragua; response biases in authoritarian contexts like Cuba and Venezuela; translation and cultural adaptation issues among indigenous communities in Guatemala and Bolivia; and debates over weighting strategies used in comparisons across socioeconomic strata in Chile and Argentina. Methodological debates reference alternative approaches advanced by scholars at University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, and Columbia University and contest the generalizability of public opinion measures in settings affected by high informal employment, cartel violence, and uneven media landscapes dominated by conglomerates like Grupo Globo and Televisa.
Category:Polling organizations