The Role of Political Parties and Public Opinion in the Authoritarian Turn of the Left in Latin America. Interview with Noam Lupu

Abstract

In recent decades, the weakening of democratic systems in Latin America has been marked by the rise of personalist and populist leaderships, the deterioration of traditional political parties, and growing societal distrust toward democratic institutions. In this interview, Dr. Noam Lupu, Director of the Center for Global Democracy and of the AmericasBarometer project at the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) at Vanderbilt University, whom I thank for his time and willingness to participate, analyzes the political, economic, and social factors, as well as the party dynamics, that have given rise to populist and authoritarian projects in the region. He also reflects on the loss of democratic legitimacy and the methodological challenges of measuring public opinion in authoritarian countries, offering a holistic perspective on the present and future of in the region.