Percepción de integridad electoral, confianza en las elecciones y comprensión de la democracia: una aproximación a la 'paradoja mexicana
| Autor | Alejandro Monsiváis-Carrillo |
| Cargo | PhD in Social Science from El Colegio de la Frontera Norte |
| Páginas | 89-121 |
89
Perception of Electoral Integrity, Trust in Elections , and
the Conditional Role of the Understanding of Democracy:
Addressing the “Mexican Paradox”
Alejandro Monsiváis-Carrillo
Departamento de Estudios de Administración Pública/
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (México)
HOW TO CITE:
Monsivais-Carrillo, Alejandro. 2022. “Perception of Electoral Integrity, Trust in Elections, and the
Conditional Role of the Understanding of Democracy: Addressing the “Mexican Paradox”. 2022.
Colombia Internacional 110: 89-121. https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint110.2022.04
RECEIVED: June 22, 2021
APPROVED: December 4, 2021
MODIFIED: January 13, 2022
https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint110.2022.04
ABSTRACT. Objective/Context: People usually associate democracy with dierent
sorts of values and desirable outcomes. An informed understanding of democracy,
however, requires that the public be aware that democracy is a regime in which
elections are free and fair, the government is bound by the rule of law, and citizens
have equal political rights and civil freedoms. is article is a contribution to
the scholarship on the public understanding of democracy as a liberal-electoral
regime. e central claim is that an informed notion of democracy reinforces the
relationship between perception of integrity in the electoral process and condence
in elections as a core institution in the political system. Methodology: Using
survey data, the empirical analysis focuses on the case of Mexico, where several
observers identify a crucial puzzle: voters systematically distrust elections that are
widely regarded as free and fair. e analysis is replicated in other Latin American
countries as well. Conclusions: As would be expected, voters are more likely to
trust elections when they perceive that ballots are counted fairly, electoral ocials
are honest, media coverage is balanced, or women have equal opportunities to run
for oce. e results conrm, furthermore, that perception of electoral integrity is
associated with a greater degree of trust in elections on the condition that voters
understand democracy as a liberal regime. Originality: is research shows that an
accurate understanding of democracy enhances citizens’ abilities to appreciate the
link between electoral integrity and the trustworthiness of elections.
KEYWORDS: Trust in elections; perception of electoral integrity; understanding of
democracy; liberal democracy; Mexico; Latin America.
e author acknowledges the anonymous reviewers for their insightful remarks
and suggestions.
90
Colomb. int. 110 • 0121-5612 • e- 1900-6004
Abril-junio 2022 • . 89-121 • https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint110.2022.04
Percepción de integridad electoral, confianza en las elecciones
y comprensión de la democracia: una aproximación a la
“paradoja mexicana”
RESUMEN. Objetivo/contexto: es común que la ciudadanía asocie a la democracia
con diferentes valores y resultados deseables. Una comprensión informada de la
democracia requiere, sin embargo, que la gente la conciba como un régimen en el
que las elecciones son libres y limpias, el Gobierno está limitado por la legalidad
y la ciudadanía goza de iguales derechos y libertades. El argumento es que una
comprensión informada de la democracia liberal-electoral refuerza la relación
positiva entre la percepción de integridad electoral y la conanza en las elecciones.
Metodología: con base en encuestas de opinión pública, el análisis empírico se
centra en el caso de México, donde se observa una amplia desconanza ciudadana
en las elecciones a pesar de que los comicios suelen ser libres y limpios. El análisis se
replica en otros países de América Latina. Conclusiones: el análisis revela que es más
probable que los votantes confíen en las elecciones si perciben que los votos se cuentan
limpiamente, los funcionarios electorales son imparciales, los medios ofrecen una
cobertura equilibrada o las mujeres tienen iguales oportunidades de ser candidatas.
Este estudio muestra, además, que los votantes que perciben integridad electoral y
tienen una comprensión informada de la democracia expresarán más conanza en
las elecciones que quienes no conciben la democracia de esa forma. Originalidad:
los resultados conrman que una concepción informada de la democracia fortalece la
conanza en las elecciones entre quienes perciben integridad en el proceso electoral.
PALABRAS CLAVE: conanza en las elecciones; percepción de integridad electoral;
comprensión de la democracia; democracia liberal; México; América Latina.
Percepção da integridade eleitoral, confiança nas eleições e
compreensão da democracia: uma abordagem do “paradoxo
mexicano”
RESUMO. Objetivo/contexto: é comum que a cidadania associe a democracia
a diferentes valores e resultados desejáveis. Uma compreensão informada da
democracia requer, contudo, que as pessoas a concebam como um regime em que
as eleições são livres e limpas, em que o governo está limitado pela legalidade e
a cidadania se benecie de direitos e liberdades iguais. Argumenta-se que uma
compreensão informada da democracia liberal-eleitoral reforça a relação positiva
entre a percepção da integridade eleitoral e a conança nas eleições. Metodologia:
com base em pesquisas de opinião pública, a análise empírica se centraliza no caso
do México, no qual é observada uma ampla desconança cidadã nas eleições apesar
de os comícios serem, geralmente, livres e limpos. A análise é reproduzida em outros
países da América Latina. Conclusões: a análise revela que é mais provável que os
eleitores conem nas eleições se perceberem que os votos são contados de forma
limpa, os cabos eleitorais forem imparciais, os meios oferecerem uma cobertura
equilibrada ou as mulheres tiverem iguais oportunidades de candidatura. Este
estudo mostra, além disso, que os eleitores que percebem integridade eleitoral e têm
91
Perception of Electoral Integrity, Trust in Elections
Viviana Baraybar Hidalgo • Yamile Guibert • Paula Muñoz
uma compreensão informada da democracia mostram mais conança nas eleições
do que aqueles que não concebem a democracia dessa forma. Originalidade: os
resultados conrmam que uma concepção informada da democracia fortalece a
conança nas eleições entre quem percebe integridade no processo eleitoral.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: conança nas eleições; percepção da integridade eleitoral;
compreensão da democracia; democracia liberal; México; América Latina.
Introduction
Trust in elections is an important expression of faith in contemporary democratic
institutions. Voters usually follow partisan cues or react to their status as winners
or losers in electoral contests to decide whether elections are trustworthy or not
(Maldonado and Seligson ; Cantú and García-Ponce ; Ugues Jr. ).
Voters are also more inclined to trust elections when the electoral processes are
conducted with honesty and fairness. If elections are marred with fraud or manipu-
lation, citizens will grow detached and skeptical (Birch ; McAllister and White
; Fortin-Rittberger et al. ; Wellman et al. ; Norris ; Mauk ).
is research argues that an informed understanding of democracy mat-
ters for trust in elections, albeit in a conditional manner. An informed under-
standing of democracy entails that democracy is dened as a regime in which
citizens have equal political rights and civil freedoms, elections are free and
fair, and the government is bound by the rule of law (Welzel ; Cho ;
Moreno and Welzel ; Shin and Kim ; Wegscheider and Stark ).
An increasing body of research shows that an accurate notion of democracy is
correlated with important political outcomes, from support for democracy to
political trust (Cho ; Flesken and Hartl ; Mauk ). Along this line,
the main contention in this study is that citizens’ belief in the trustworthiness
of elections will not only depend on the quality of the electoral cycle, but also
on how they understand democracy. An informed notion of democracy should
strengthen the positive relationship between perception of electoral integrity
and trust in elections. Symmetrically, being informed about democracy should
enhance the negative correlation between perceptions of electoral malpractice
and condence in elections.
An informed notion of democracy could be particularly relevant for trust
in elections in regimes where manipulation or malpractice has a limited reach,
but the integrity of the electoral cycle is still less than complete. As this study
will argue, this is the case of trust in elections in Mexico. For several decades,
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