Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
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Date
2014
Authors
Solt, Frederick
Kim, Dongkyu
Lee, Kyu Young
Willardson, Spencer L
Kim, Seokdong
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE
Abstract
Do neoliberal economic reforms in Latin American democracies mobilize citizens to overcome their collective action
problems and protest? A recent addition to the scholarship on this crucial question of the relationship of markets and
politics, Bellinger and Arce (2011), concludes that economic liberalization does have this effect, working to repoliticize
collective actors and reinvigorate democracy. We reexamine the article’s analyses and demonstrate that they misinterpret
the marginal effect of the variables of theoretical interest. Thus, the article’s optimistic claims about the consequences
for democracy of economic liberalization in the region are not supported by its own empirical results. It is argued here
that its results suggest instead that protests became more common in autocracies when they moved away from markets.
Rather than speaking to how people have mobilized to protest against liberal reforms in Latin America’s democracies,
the work’s analyses illuminate only when people protested against the region’s dictatorships
Description
Keywords
Neoliberal reform, political protest, Latin America
Citation
Frederick Solt, Dongkyu Kim, Kyu Young Lee, Spencer Willardson, Seokdong Kim; 2014; Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction; Research and Politics