Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Public Policies Do Citizens Want?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando G. Cafferata ◽  
Carlos Scartascini
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Crime Policy ◽  
Extensive Survey ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Better Than

Crime is a major problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. With 9 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for 33 percent of global homicides. Using new, extensive survey data, we endeavor to identify what anti-crime policies citizens in the region demand from their governments. We also analyze who is demanding what and why. We find that harsher penalties appear to be the preferred weapon in the anti-crime arsenal but people are willing to spend public moneys not only for punishment, but also for anti-poverty and detection policies. Citizens recognize that allocating resources to the police is better than subsidizing private security for citizens. Nevertheless, most oppose raising taxes to fund the police, a reluctance that might stem from mistrust in governments' ability to manage these resources. Mistrust, misinformation, and impatience combine to create flawed anti-crime policy. Educating citizens both about crime and about the fiscal consequences of their policy preferences may help move the region's public opinion toward a better policy equilibrium. Governments should also invest in their capability to design and deliver evidence-based solutions for fighting crime, and work to increase trust levels among citizens.

scholarly journals How well are citizens represented by their governments? Issue congruence and inequality in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rosset ◽  
Christian Stecker
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Expert Survey ◽  
Popular Support

AbstractThis study analyses congruence across various issues in 16 European democracies. Making use of public opinion and expert survey data, our analyses show that congruence between the policy preferences of citizens and the stances of governments is much more complex than what is revealed by studies focusing on ideology solely. Size and directions of incongruence are larger and more systematic on specific issues than on the left–right scale. On redistribution, citizens are more to the left than their governments, while popular support for European integration is systematically lower among citizens than among their representatives. Moreover, the relatively poor are particularly underrepresented on redistribution, while the preferences of the relatively lower educated are not well reflected in government preferences in relation to European integration. We interpret these results as being partly linked to a representation gap with privileged social groups enjoying higher levels of congruence with their government.

scholarly journals Trends in the ecological character of the world's wetlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. C. Davidson ◽  
L. Dinesen ◽  
S. Fennessy ◽  
C. M. Finlayson ◽  
P. Grillas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Ramsar Site ◽  
Ramsar Convention ◽  
Sustainable Development Goal ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Average Area ◽  
Ecological Character ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Better Than

We assessed trends in the ecological character of wetlands generally and of Ramsar Sites reported in 2011, 2014 and 2017 by the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in their national reports. There was more widespread deterioration than improvement in the ecological character of wetlands generally, with deterioration increasingly more widespread between 2011 and 2017. The ecological-character trends in Ramsar Sites were significantly better than those of wetlands generally, but an increasingly more widespread deterioration of ecological character was reported between 2011 and 2017. Trends in the ecological character of wetlands generally, and of Ramsar Sites were worst in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, and recently also in Oceania, and better in North America and Europe. Deterioration in the ecological character of Ramsar Site was more widespread in countries with a large average area of their Ramsar Sites. This information on trends of wetland ecological character can contribute to assessing the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.6 and Aichi Biodiversity Target 5. Our analysis indicated that the 1971 aim of the Ramsar Convention to stem the degradation of wetlands has not yet been achieved.

Survey Data for the Study of Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebeca Wong ◽  
Martha Peláez ◽  
Alberto Palloni ◽  
Kyriakos Markides
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
The Caribbean

Informed but Insecure

2019 ◽  
pp. 55-81
Author(s):  
Erynn Masi de Casanova
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Considerable Improvement ◽  
Extensive Survey ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Main Barrier ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Better Than

This chapter analyzes the most extensive survey to date of domestic workers in Ecuador, with four hundred women sharing information about their working conditions, benefits, and social security. Most useful for informing policy and organizing strategies are the insights about which workers are most likely to know and demand their rights and the evidence that working conditions of current workers are better than those of former workers, which could indicate change over time. Efforts to inform workers of their right to social security seem to have been successful: 88 percent of the survey participants knew that domestic workers are entitled to join the Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social (IESS). The main barrier to coverage, however, is the reluctance of employers to enroll workers and contribute on their behalf: nearly a third of survey respondents who were not enrolled reported that their employers' opposition was the reason why. Confirming research findings from around Latin America, working conditions reported by the survey participants are not good. However, they seem to be improving somewhat over time. More than twice as many current workers reported receiving overtime pay when compared with former workers. For vacation time and bonuses, more than four times as many current workers reported receiving these benefits. Despite this considerable improvement, there is still a long way to go for today's domestic workers.

Public Opinion Toward LGBT People and Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Chaux ◽  
Manuela León ◽  
Lina Cuellar ◽  
Juliana Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Attitudes Toward Homosexuality ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Lgbt People ◽  
And Gender

Important changes toward more acceptance of homosexuality seem to be occurring in many countries around the world. However, large differences exist between individuals, societal groups, countries, and regions in attitudes toward homosexuality. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LatAmC) are not an exception in either of these trends. More positive attitudes toward homosexuality in LatAmC countries and significant legal and political changes in favor of LBGT rights have been occurring in the region since the third wave of democratization in the 1980s. Nonetheless, there are important limitations to these advancements: they are highly uneven; they are fragile and likely to become targets of politically motivated public outrage; enforcement is irregular and often faces hostile resistance from the civil servants appointed to enact and uphold them; and LGBT individuals continue to face high levels of violence, making the region one of the deadliest for sexual and gender minorities, particularly trans women. Analyses from two large surveys, conducted periodically in several LatAmC countries, which include questions about homophobic attitudes (the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, or ICCS, and the Latin American Public Opinion Project, or LAPOP) show a clear historical pattern of increased acceptance toward homosexuality in most countries. They also reveal large differences between countries with high (e.g., Uruguay) or low (e.g., Haiti) levels of acceptance of homosexuality. Multiple variables are associated with these differences. In almost all countries, women and more educated, less religious, and more politically active participants show more positive attitudes toward homosexuality than men and less educated, more religious (especially evangelical) and less politically involved participants. The analysis of attitudes toward homosexuality in LatAmC shows that (a) change in attitudes at a large scale is possible and is occurring relatively fast in LatAmC; (b) some countries are greatly lagging behind in these changes, especially in the Caribbean; and (c) policies and programs are urgently needed in the region, not only to facilitate changes in those countries where homophobic attitudes are still very common, but also to consolidate changes that have already been occurring.

scholarly journals Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer: Developing Evidence-Based Recommendations to Reduce the Risk of Cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Eduardo Cazap ◽  
Liz Maria de Almeida ◽  
Silvina Arrossi ◽  
Patricia J. García ◽  
María Luisa Garmendia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

The Welfare State amid Crime: How Victimization and Perceptions of Insecurity Affect Social Policy Preferences in Latin America and the Caribbean

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-422
Author(s):  
Melina Altamirano ◽  
Sarah Berens ◽  
Sandra Ley
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Criminal Violence ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Welfare State

Criminal violence is one of the most pressing problems in Latin America and the Caribbean, with profound political consequences. Its effects on social policy preferences, however, remain largely unexplored. This article argues that to understand such effects it is crucial to analyze victimization experiences and perceptions of insecurity as separate phenomena with distinct attitudinal consequences. Heightened perceptions of insecurity are associated with a reduced demand for public welfare provision, as such perceptions reflect a sense of the state’s failure to provide public security. At the same time, acknowledging the mounting costs and needs that direct experience with crime entails, victimization is expected to increase support for social policies, particularly for health services. Survey data from twenty-four Latin American and Caribbean countries for the period 2008–12 show that perceptions of insecurity indeed reduce support for the state’s role in welfare provision, whereas crime victimization strongly increases such preferences.

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