Attitudes and values in the face of the crisis of democracy

A comparative study between Latin America and Spain

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https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_estud_socioeducativos.2025.i13.04

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Vol. 1 No. 13 (2025): Hacia un desarrollo equitativo y sostenible. Perspectivas entre Europa y América Latina
Sección 1: Ensayos
Published: 23-05-2025
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Abstract

In the initial decades of the XXI century, democracies confront significant challenges in a context characterised by escalating political polarisation, expanding inequalities, and institutional distrust. These phenomena, while global in scope, manifest unequally across diverse regions, contingent upon their respective socio-economic contexts. This research undertaking involves a comparative analysis of attitudes towards democracy and its institutions in Latin America and Spain. To this end, the statistical exploitation of the Latinobarómetro survey (carried out in Latin American countries and Spain in 2023) is employed in this study to analyse attitudes towards democracy in the aforementioned contexts, with particular emphasis on perceptions of legitimacy, satisfaction and trust in democratic institutions. The aim is to unravel the differences and similarities in citizen attitudes, while considering variables such as gender and ideological position. The results obtained demonstrate a marked divergence between men and women, contingent on their respective territorial contexts. Moreover, ideological disparities are evident in relation to the level of support for democracy and its institutions.

Keywords

Democracy Google Schoolar
Latin America Google Schoolar
Spain Google Schoolar
institutions Google Schoolar
polarization Google Schoolar

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Clavero-Mira, E., & Haz-Gomez, F. E. (2025). Attitudes and values in the face of the crisis of democracy: A comparative study between Latin America and Spain . Revista De Estudios Socioeducativos. ReSed, 1(13). https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_estud_socioeducativos.2025.i13.04

Author Biographies

Esther Clavero-Mira, University of Alicante

Esther Clavero Mira holds a degree in Sociology from the University of Alicante and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Murcia. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Sociology II at the University of Alicante. Between 2010 and 2024 she was Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Murcia. In addition, she is a researcher at CEMOP (Centro de Estudios Murcianos de Opinión Pública), and at the Observatory of Social Exclusion of the University of Murcia since 2012. She is also a member of CEMUGE (Centre for Women's and Gender Studies), and of the research team of the Open Chair of Innovation and Participation of the University of Murcia, as well as a member of the Knowledge Transfer Group ‘Sociological Studies’ of the University of Murcia. From 2007 to January 2021 he has held public and political responsibilities in different regional and local administrations. He has been a member of the Social Council of the University of Murcia between 2011 and 2015, as well as of the Inter-University Council of the Region of Murcia.

Francisco Eduardo Haz-Gomez, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela

Francisco Eduardo Haz-Gómez holds a degree in Sociology, University of A Coruña (2004), a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology, UNED (2009), a degree in Social Work, UNED (2021) and an international PhD in Sociology and Political Science from the University of A Coruña (2016). He is currently a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Santiago de Compostela and a member of the Social Research and Public Policy team (ISOPOLIS). He has extensive experience in the field of social research in areas such as research methodology, social exclusion, digital society, public policy and urban sociology, among others. He holds scholarships from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and the University of Tallinn (Estonia). He has taught at the University of Extremadura, International University of Valencia, University of Murcia and UNED, as well as being a guest lecturer at various universities in Italy, Portugal, Poland, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Lithuania. Since 2022 he has been a researcher at the Institute for the Development of Galicia (IDEGA). He is also a member of the board of the Political Sociology Research Committee of the Spanish Federation of Sociology.

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