I recently read the following in an issue of Current History:
A regional survey conducted by Vanderbilt University in 2008 found that 66 percent of Guatemalans, 49 percent of Salvadorans, and 47 percent of Hondurans believed that their police were implicated in criminal activities.
--From "The Root Causes of the Central American Crisis," p. 47. Printed in the Feb 2015 issue of Current History.
I then took a look at the Corruption Perceptions Index (which is established, in part, from public opinion) to see how public perception did/did not match up with the public opinion data from Vanderbilt University. This then led me to the question I pose to you here:
What forms public perception in Central America and how does it differ from country to country in the region and other larger regions?
Obviously I am interested in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and how these three countries compare to one another, but I'd also be interested in knowing how they compare to Central America, Latin America, and other regions of the world.
Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide or recommendations for further reading/relevant resources.
Article The Root Causes of the Central American Crisis
Public perception is often shaped by media discourses, directly and indirectly. Socially constructed, mediated by specific ideas/ideologies of how people see,view, experience, account for their experience in the world? See for example, my articles at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279181044_The_Everyday_at_Grassroots_level_poverty_protest_and_social_change_in_post-apartheid_South_Africa; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308033350_Human_Rights_and_Media_Freedom_in_Post-Apartheid_South_Africa;
also see: Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies
Volume 15, Issue 1-2, 2001
Human rights and citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa
John J Williams, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Abstract
The South African constitutional discourse is the foundational agency that produces citizenship, centring subjectivity as a relational engagement with the existential reality of the everyday life of ordinary people. In this paper, however, it is pointed out that in terms of the constitutional provisions, the nature of inter-subjectivity, i.e. subject-to-subject relations, orients and indeed frames relations of power undergirding citizenship. It is furthermore argued that though the conceptual parameters of citizenship are often nebulous, as a discursive referent, however, it informs both the basis and dimensions of a constitutional democracy, such as obtained in post-apartheid South Africa. Even so, it would appear that the construction of a discourse of change and the effective transformation/elimination of oppressive/exploitative practices in the everyday life of ordinary people are fraught with a range of structural slippages and incidents of institutional inertia. In this regard, the paper highlights several issues: First, the dominant discourse on the new South Africa is predicated upon a declarative citizenship, not an assertive citizenship, in that elected officials (presumably) representing the citizenry declare the noble ideals of an inclusive society by representing their specific constituencies in all spheres of government, as opposed to the electorate participating directly at all levels of decision-making in all spheres of government. Second, citizenship as ensconced in the Constitution is based on the premise that all humans have equal access to rights, in contradistinction to the prevailing reality that only those with financial wherewithal can have their rights enforced; even in cases where socio-economic rights have been successfully defended in a Court of Law such as in the case of Grootboom vs. SA State (1999). In this instance though, rights to adequate service delivery were not followed through by compelling local authorities to provide quality, sustainable services to affected communities in whose favour the Court ruled. This means, amongst other things, that institutional defiance militates against citizenship and also thwarts attempts to create a meaningful everyday life for ‘ordinary’ people at
Article THE BETRAYAL OF THE STRUGGLE FOR FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL CHANGE I...
Article Human Rights and Media Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Dear Lisa:
I think that you have two main sources of information available:
--The World Values Survey (WVS) is the most encompassing source of data on cultural variables in the World. Since it has surveyed around 100 societies from all levels of development and cultural traditions, from 1981 to 2014, it allows you to get an accurate picture of the position of any society in the global stage. The problem is that not every country in Central America has been surveyed, but fortunately El Salvador has been included, along with República Dominicana, Guatemala and Trinidad y Tobago. I've written a report on political culture in Latin America based on WVS data that may be useful for you (link below).
--The Latinobarómetro study has surveyed most countries in the region since 1995. This is a good survey and it is widely used by researchers. Link below.
https://cambiocultural.org/cultura-politica/cultura-politica-de-la-democracia-en-america-latina-i/
http://www.latinobarometro.org/lat.jsp
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp
Dear Lisa:
In addition to these two sources, there are LAPOP polls that raise similar questions. University of Vanderbilt
I'm not very familiar with Latinobarometro but I know that the sample design and data collection of LAPOP surveys is of great quality. Have you read the LAPOP reports for those countries? They will answer your question in detail. Good luck!
Latin American democracy is crumbling under corruption
https://www.google.co.cr/amp/thehill.com/opinion/international/380482-latin-american-democracy-is-crumbling-under-corruption%3famp
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