The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship
Authors
Bautista, María Angélica
González, Felipe
Martínez, Luis R.
Muñoz, Pablo
Prem, Mounu
Editor
Publication date
2018-12-03
Document language
eng
Publisher
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Abstract
We show that exposure to repression under dictatorship increases support for democracy
and contributes to regime change when a democratic window of opportunity arises. Studying
the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, we exploit the fact that the predetermined
location of military bases predicts local levels of civilian victimization, but is unrelated
to historical political preferences. Using two-stage least squares, we show that increased exposure
to repression during the dictatorship led to higher voter registration and higher opposition
to Pinochet’s continuation in power in the 1988 plebiscite that triggered the democratic transition.
Complementary survey data confirms that individuals with greater exposure to repression
during the military regime continue to have stronger preferences for democracy. However,
exposure to repression does not a↵ect election outcomes after democratization.
Description
Códigos JEL
D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior, N46 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Latin America; Caribbean
item.page.subjectjelspa
D72 - Procesos políticos: búsqueda de rentas económicas, cabildeo, elecciones, legislaturas y comportamiento de los votantes, N46 - Gobierno, guerra, legislación, relaciones internacionales y regulación: América Latina; Caribe
Keywords
Chile, Human rights, Repression, Dictatorship, Democratization, Elections
