Perceptions and misperceptions in Latin American politics Breaking out from the traditional right-left paradigm, The case of Chile
Pedro Parraguez Ruiz University of Bath
Geography in Latam as well as the political landscape is heterogeneous and complex
From the northern frontier in the Atacama desert
To the Patagonia fields and its “ice camps�,
The centre of the country in the coast
And the valleys
This geographic metaphor allows us to give a more detailed view at the left-right political paradigm
This is how we usually visualize the political spectrum
But a bi dimensional analysis is not enough
And Latin America is young and it is building its own models
Some interesting topics to look into are:
Moving away from the extremes, no Pinochets or Allendes
Hybrid models, the economically liberal “left” in Chile and the “popular right”
Latam politics are more than Fidel Castro and Chavez
Privatization and social welfare
Citizen movements in Latam
Independientes en Red
The impact of young voters
The relevance of religion (still) in politics
And some of those issues were reflected in our last political election
Changing players and trends
Chilean Presidential Campaign 2009 Jorge Arrate MacNiven 6%
Marco EnríquezOminami 20%
Eduardo Frei RuizTagle 30%
Sebastián Piñera Echenique 44%
What are your perceptions (and misperceptions) about Latam politics and the right-left paradigm?