The Geography of Dictatorship and Support for Democracy

Maria Bautista, Felipe González, Luis Martınez, Pablo Muñoz and Mounu Prem
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Maria Bautista: University of Chicago
Luis Martınez: University of Chicago
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Luis Roberto Martinez ()

Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) Working Papers from Empirical Studies of Conflict Project

Abstract: We show that proximity to military bases during the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990) exposed civilians to more state repression and led to (i) stronger electoral opposition to Pinochet and (ii) a long-lasting strengthening of democratic values. Our empirical strategy exploits the location of military bases during the many decades of democratic rule before the military coup, which we show is unrelated to pre-coup electoral outcomes. We find that residents of counties housing these bases both registered and voted "No" to Pinochet's continuation in power at higher rates in the crucial 1988 plebiscite that bolstered the democratic transition. These counties also experienced more civilian deaths and forced disappearances during the dictatorship, indicating that increased exposure to repression affected voters' behavior. After democratization, residents of these counties who were exposed to the military coup report greater support for democracy in surveys, but there are no persistent effects on electoral outcomes.

Keywords: Chile; dictatorship; repression; democratization; human rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 N46 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-gro, nep-his, nep-lam and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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https://esoc.princeton.edu/publications/esoc-worki ... nd-support-democracy

Related works:
Working Paper: The Geography of Dictatorship and Support for Democracy (2019)
Working Paper: Geography of Dictatorship and Support for Democracy (2019)
Working Paper: The Geography of Dictatorship and Support for Democracy (2019)
Working Paper: The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship (2018)
Working Paper: The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship (2018)
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