SS1 -- Income and Trust in Government in Latin America
Document Type
Event
Abstract
Latin America has a long history of political instability, corruption, and generally low levels of democracy. Incumbents have repeatedly modified constitutional arrangements to suit their own interests leading to a lack of trust and support for many regimes. Zaller and Gedes have found that support for the regime in Brazil “will be strongest among citizens in the broad middle ranges of political awareness”. Zaller finds that those “who are informed enough to be fairly heavily exposed to government indoctrination programs but who are not sufficiently sophisticated or motivated to resist them” are the population of people who will most strongly support the government. Due to social inequality and the way education systems are set up in Latin America, I am interested to see if those who lack access to money are likely to be informed enough to be heavily exposed to government indoctrination programs but not sophisticated enough to resist them. Torche and Costa-Ribeiro find that there is a substantial effect of parental wealth on adult children’s schooling, school quality, occupational status, consumption level, and wealth holdings in Brazil. Cavalcanti, Guimaraes, and Sampaio find that “there is a strong barrier for public school students to get into… competitive majors” such as law, medicine, and electronic engineering. The fraction of students from public schools that get into those high earning majors are practically none. Their findings conclude that there is evidence that Brazil’s elitist high education system contributes heavily towards the persistence of inequality. These inequalities will lead to more education, and therefore a higher level of sophistication that will aid these people in combating manipulation from the government through propaganda, as well as a high level of political awareness. This poses a unique and fascinating question: “Does income affect trust for the government in Latin America?” Household wealth provides a source of finance for education and entrepreneurial activities; I am interested to learn if this effect will carry over into the individual’s ability to earn a substantial income, increase their political awareness and resist government propaganda, making them less likely to support the government.
Keywords
Social Sciences
SS1 -- Income and Trust in Government in Latin America
URC Greatroom
Latin America has a long history of political instability, corruption, and generally low levels of democracy. Incumbents have repeatedly modified constitutional arrangements to suit their own interests leading to a lack of trust and support for many regimes. Zaller and Gedes have found that support for the regime in Brazil “will be strongest among citizens in the broad middle ranges of political awareness”. Zaller finds that those “who are informed enough to be fairly heavily exposed to government indoctrination programs but who are not sufficiently sophisticated or motivated to resist them” are the population of people who will most strongly support the government. Due to social inequality and the way education systems are set up in Latin America, I am interested to see if those who lack access to money are likely to be informed enough to be heavily exposed to government indoctrination programs but not sophisticated enough to resist them. Torche and Costa-Ribeiro find that there is a substantial effect of parental wealth on adult children’s schooling, school quality, occupational status, consumption level, and wealth holdings in Brazil. Cavalcanti, Guimaraes, and Sampaio find that “there is a strong barrier for public school students to get into… competitive majors” such as law, medicine, and electronic engineering. The fraction of students from public schools that get into those high earning majors are practically none. Their findings conclude that there is evidence that Brazil’s elitist high education system contributes heavily towards the persistence of inequality. These inequalities will lead to more education, and therefore a higher level of sophistication that will aid these people in combating manipulation from the government through propaganda, as well as a high level of political awareness. This poses a unique and fascinating question: “Does income affect trust for the government in Latin America?” Household wealth provides a source of finance for education and entrepreneurial activities; I am interested to learn if this effect will carry over into the individual’s ability to earn a substantial income, increase their political awareness and resist government propaganda, making them less likely to support the government.