FIND DATA: By Author | Journal | Sites   ANALYZE DATA: Help with R | SPSS | Stata | Excel   WHAT'S NEW? US Politics | Int'l Relations | Law & Courts
   FIND DATA: By Author | Journal | Sites   WHAT'S NEW? US Politics | IR | Law & Courts
If this link is broken, please report as broken. You can also submit updates (will be reviewed).
Insights from the Field

Why Vote Buying Favors Lighter Skin in Latin America's Elections


Electoral Clientelism
Latin America
Indigenous Populations
Skin Color
Latin American Politics
World Pol.
2 Stata files
4 datasets
1 PDF files
Dataverse
Electoral Discrimination: The Relationship between Skin Color and Vote Buying in Latin America was authored by Marcus Johnson. It was published by Princeton in World Pol. in 2020.

Electoral discrimination operates indirectly through clientelism targeting observable traits. This study finds skin color predicts vote buying across 7 countries with large visible populations of blacks and indigenous groups, despite race-neutral criteria disproportionately affecting dark-skinned voters. Using AmericasBarometer data (2010-2014) and conjoint experiments, it demonstrates a robust clientelism gap based on racial appearance. Wealth disparities partially explain this effect, but political engagement, trust levels, partisanship, and geography also vary significantly across nations like Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname shaping the relationship differently. Importantly, even after accounting for these factors collectively – which include dark-skinned voters being more likely to receive offers – skin color remains an independent predictor of clientelism targeting.

data
Find on Google Scholar
Find on JSTOR
Princeton
World Politics
Podcast host Ryan