Perceptions and misperceptions in Latin American politics

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?