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Assessments of Democracy in Latin America Latinobarómetro, a non-profit Chilean organization, has conducted this annual poll since 1996 to evaluate the democratic process in 17 countries in the region. It poses the same set of questions to population samples in each country. The 2002 poll found support for democracy rebounding to 56%, from 48% in 2001, although still below the 60% levels recorded in the 1990s. The increase was attributed to elections that brought new political groups to power in several countries of the region, including Peru, Costa Rica, Honduras, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Sixty-eight percent of Latin Americans agreed with the statement that "democracy can have certain problems, but it is the best system of government." However, only 50% defined themselves as democrats, and the overwhelming majority expressed dissatisfaction with the way democracy works in practice. Surprisingly, Argentina, despite its economic collapse, produced greater support for the idea of democracy (65%) than last year (58%). At the same time, Argentines gave their government a dismal 10% approval rating, and only 14% expressed confidence in it. The polls organizers speculate that this means that Latin Americans are learning that democracy means being able to vote out of office political leaders who fail to live up to expectations. Some countries that had authoritarian regimes in the past continued to show support for military governments (as in the case of Paraguay). But in others, such as Argentina and Venezuela, respondents placed a high value on civic freedoms. The poll also found that only Argentina and Peru showed greater leftist tendencies, while the rest of the region identified as center-right. The greatest virtues of democracy were cited as freedom and elections. Its greatest problems were described as political parties (which had only a 14% approval rating) and corruption. Eight out of 10 respondents believed that corruption has increased over the last three years. "Today the poor have a greater voice than before and are learning to defend their rights," explained Latinobarómetro's director, Marta Lagos. "It's no coincidence that countries that have had a change of elites in power and include a majority of citizens in their democratic processes are having more problems than before. Now they have to deal with citizens with a voice who are demanding solutions." The institutions in which Latin Americans reported having the most trust were the Catholic Church and television. Congress lost the most public trust in recent years, and in general, low levels of confidence in political institutions emerged as a problem in the poll. Most respondents cited democracy and free markets as the best systems for achieving development. Nevertheless, many expressed dissatisfaction with recent economic reforms. Most were hostile to privatization, arguing that the process has not been transparent or has merely turned public monopolies into private ones. Eve so, however, a large percentage advocated transferring economic activities away from the state and into private hands. One of the poll's major findings was that, for Latin Americans, economic development is more important than democracy. "This finding did not vary from 2001 to 2002, indicating that it is a permanent characteristic of the weakness of democracy in a region where support for democratic regimes is determined largely by satisfaction with economic gains," Lagos commented. In its review of the Latinobarómetro results, The Economist noted that building democracy is not an easy task in the midst of poverty, but concluded that "Latin Americans are learning to separate the performance of their governments from the desirability of democracy itself." The magazine's editors called this finding "modest grounds for hope."
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