Corruption, accountability and citizen participation in protests in Latin America

Abstract

In the last few years street demonstrations broke out in Brazil as well as in other Latin American countries to protest against major corruption scandals. Various scholars studying the case of Brazil have argued that the economic recession was one of the conditions triggering public’s reaction against corruption scandals (MELO, 2016; HAGOPIAN, 2016), as public opinion might tolerate corruption during times of economic boom – when government social programs can be expanded – but they are less likely to accept it during times of economic recession (BALAN, 2014). This article uses data from the LAPOP surveys 2010 to show that there is a systematic link between corruption – perception and victimization – and participation in protests, even in times of economic growth. Two possible mechanisms are discussed. Results suggest that the link between corruption and protests is not conditional to the economic cycle.