The Legitimacy Puzzle in Latin America
Political Support and Democracy in Eight Nations

This book examines citizens' attitudes toward the legitimacy of their political systems and the relationship between political legitimacy and democratic stability.

John A. Booth (Author), Mitchell A. Seligson (Author)

9780521734202, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 2 February 2009

376 pages, 34 b/w illus. 26 tables
22.7 x 15.1 x 2.2 cm, 0.5 kg

'This very smart and appealing book provides further evidence that Mitch Seligson and John Booth are the foremost contemporary students of Latin American political behavior. Drawing upon a wealth of survey data on eight countries spanning fifteen years, the book sets out to understand the 'legitimacy puzzle': specifically, how and why Latin American democracies can survive and continue to function despite declining citizen satisfaction and trust in government institutions and leaders. The authors' analyses of the nature, sources and consequences of political legitimacy are rigorous and painstaking, and their results are both surprising and persuasive. Ultimately they resolve the puzzle with a paradox; far from threatening the survival of democracy, disaffected citizens continue to support democracy while expressing disapproval of the authorities and their policies. Rather than threatening democracy, disaffected citizens are potential sources of reform and renewal. This fascinating book is essential reading for all who value democracy.' William Mishler, University of Arizona

Political scientists have worried about declining levels of citizens' support for their regimes (legitimacy), but have failed to empirically link this decline to the survival or breakdown of democracy. This apparent paradox is the 'legitimacy puzzle', which this book addresses by examining political legitimacy's structure, sources, and effects. With exhaustive empirical analysis of high-quality survey data from eight Latin American nations, it confirms that legitimacy exists as multiple, distinct dimensions. It finds that one's position in society, education, knowledge, information, and experiences shape legitimacy norms. Contrary to expectations, however, citizens who are unhappy with their government's performance do not drop out of politics or resort mainly to destabilizing protest. Rather, the disaffected citizens of these Latin American democracies participate at high rates in conventional politics and in such alternative arenas as communal improvement and civil society. And despite regime performance problems, citizen support for democracy remains high.

1. The legitimacy puzzles
2. The structure of legitimacy
3. Countries in the study
4. The sources of political legitimacy
5. Legitimacy and political participation
6. Legitimacy and negative political capital
7. Legitimacy and democratic values
8. The sky is not falling: the puzzle solved.

Subject Areas: International institutions [JPSN], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB]