Political Culture in the Dominican Republic

1
Political Culture in the Dominican Republic

• Jana Morgan, University of Tennessee
• Rosario Espinal, Temple University

2
Barómetro de las Américas Dominican Republic

• Dominican survey Dates 1-22 June 2006
• Goals of the sample
• Nationally representative
• Urban and Rural
• Employed and Unemployed
• Women and Men
• All Economic and Educational Levels

3
Final Sample

• 1519 respondents
• 511 in the metropolitan district (33.6)
• 500 in the north (32.9)
• 221 in the east (14.5)
• 287 in the south (18.9)

4
Tolerance and System Support
5
Political Tolerance

• In the Dominican Republic, the average score on
  the political tolerance scale is 58.9, one of the
  highest among the countries that participated in
  the LAPOP study.
• Political tolerance is strongest in terms of
  support for dissidents right to protest.
  
• Men are more tolerant than women.
• Political tolerance increases as people obtain
  more education.
  
• Tolerance also increases with age.

6
Political ToleranceRights of Regime Opponents
63
61
58
55
Note Scales from 0 to 100. 0 indicates strong
disapproval, and 100 means strong support for the
rights of regime opponents. Together these four
items comprise the political tolerance scale.
Source LAPOP 2006
7
Tolerance in Comparative Perspective
The political tolerance scale was constructed
from four questions about the rights of political
dissidents to vote, protest, be candidates for
public office, and to give speeches.
Source LAPOP 2006
8
Political Tolerance by Education
70
59
55
56
Source LAPOP 2006
9
Support for the Political System

• For all components of the support for the
  political system scale, levels of support
  increased from 2004 to 2006.
  
• The increase was particularly significant in the
  case of support for political institutions.
  
• The scale component with the lowest average score
  was the question that asked respondents whether
  the system protected citizens basic rights.

10
Political System Support
39
57
43
65
62
73
36
46
42
47
Components of the political system support scale.
All the components range from 0 to 100. O means
none, and 100 means a lot. Together these
questions for the scale. Sources DEMOS 2004 and
LAPOP 2006
11
Support for the Political System in Comparative
Perspective
64
60.8
57.6
57
55.4
55
53.2
52.2
51.5
48.9
46.6
45.3
43.9
41.6
37.4
The scale of system support ranges from 0 to 100.
It is the average of five questions pride in the
Dominican system, support for the Dominican
system, respect for the countrys political
institutions, protection for basic rights, and
confidence in courts. Source LAPOP 2006
12
Factors that Explain System Support

• At higher levels of education, respondents were
  less supportive of the system.
  
• People with more economic resources express
  greater support for the system.
  
• Members of President Fernándezs PLD were more
  supportive of the political system than those who
  supported other political parties or were without
  political affiliation.

13
Trust in Institutions

• Trust in social institutions is greater than
  trust in political institutions.
  
• Confidence in political institutions icreased
  between 2004 and 2006.
  
• The only institution with lower levels of trust
  in 2006 than in 2004 is the justice system.
  
• The Dominican Republic has one of the highest
  general levels of trust in government of all
  LAPOP countries.

14
Trust in Social Institutions
4.9
5.2
5.2
5.4
4.0
4.6
Source DEMOS 2004 and LAPOP 2006
15
Trust in Public Institutions
2.4
5.4
2.7
4.2
4.5
3.8
3.1
4.6
3.5
3.8
3.3
4.9
3.0
3.2
2.3
3.1
Source DEMOS 2004 and LAPOP 2006
16
Elections and Political Parties
17
Political Parties

• Respondents tended to disagree that democracy
  was possible without political parties
  
• Although sympathy for political parties has
  declined in the past 12 years, sympathy remains
  high compared to other countries.
  
• Greater education produces a slight tendency
  toward sympathizing with a political party as
  does residence in urban areas.
  
• The majority of Dominican respondents identified
  more with the right side of the political
  spectrum and rejected populism.

18
Can Democracy Exist without Political Parties?
55 clearly disagrees
36
15
13
11
11
8
7
Disagree
Agree
Source LAPOP 2006
19
Can democracy exist without Parties?Comparative
Perspective
Disagree
Agree
Source LAPOP 2006
20
Sympathy for a Political Party
71
70
63
63
60
Source DEMOS 1994-2004 and LAPOP 2006
21
Partisan Sympathy in Comparative Perspective
Source LAPOP 2006
22
Left-Right Ideology
Right73
Left27
Left
Right
Question According to your understanding of the
terms left and right, from the political
perspective where would you place yourself on
this scale? Source LAPOP 2006
23
Left-Right Ideology by Country
The numbers in the bars reflect each countrys
average placement on the left-right ideology
scale, where one equals left and ten equals
right. Source LAPOP 2006
24
Participation by Type of Organization
Religious participation is measured with
attendance at religious meetings. Political
participation is measured with attendance at
political party meetings. Civic participation is
measured using five questions about participation
in neighborhood improvement committees, womens
associations, professional, commercial or peasant
associations, parent associations, and unions.
Each scale ranges from 0 to 100.
Source LAPOP 2006
25
Women and Politics
26
Changes in Attitudes about Women

• One of the most important changes over the last
  decade in the Dominican Republic concerns
  attitudes about womens participation in
  politics.
• Despite a slight decline in support in 2004,
  overall we have observed an increase in support
  for women in politics.
  
• Support for more egalitarian household
  decisionmaking has increased unchecked over the
  past 12 years.
  
• We also observe ample support for womens
  pariticipation in the workforce.

27
Attitudes about Women in Politics
Source DEMOS 1994-2004 and LAPOP 2006
28
Who should make important household decisions?
Both
The Man
The Woman
Source DEMOS 1994-2004 and LAPOP 2006
29
Women should only work when the mans income in
not adequate
Source DEMOS 1994-2004 and LAPOP 2006
30
Migration
31
Haitian and Dominican Migration

• A slight majority oppose the government giving
  undocumented Haitians work permits and oppose
  citizenship rights for Dominican-born children of
  Haitians.
• 20 of respondents indicated that they receive
  remittances.
  
• The desire to leave the DR to live abroad, is
  highest among those with a secondary education.
  
• The desire to go live abroad decreases with age.

32
Rights of Haitians
1-3 56 in disagreement
1-3 53 in disagreement
Disagree
Agree
Source LAPOP 2006
33
Dominicans who Receive Remittances from Abroad
Source LAPOP 2006
34
Desire or Intent to Live Abroad by Education
Source LAPOP 2006
35
Pride in Being Dominican
Fuente Encuesta LAPOP 2006