Indigenous people, recognition, and democracy in Latin America

Abstract

ABSTRACT Multicultural citizenship norms have been introduced in most Latin American countries. Some fear that this process may destabilize and undermine democratic institutions, while others believe that it contributes to strengthening democracy and restoring its legitimacy, especially among indigenous people. Multilevel regression analyses of the Latinobarómetro surveys from 2007 to 2017 reveal that indigenous people tend to express levels of support for democracy that are similar to the rest of society, suggesting that they do not represent a particular threat to the stability and legitimacy of the political system. On the other hand, constitutional recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples does increase citizens’ democratic support. However, indigenous people are no more supportive of democracy than non-indigenous people as constitutional multiculturalism gains prominence. A result that is explained – in part – by the fact that multicultural recognition has been essentially symbolic with little tangible improvements in the living conditions of indigenous people.