Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Opinión Pública
"Public opinion, social conflict and political order”

The Congress

During the congress, ten round tables and two panels presented over 50 papers, all of which were based on public opinion data. These can be grouped into four core themes:

1. Democracy and political change in Latin America: The papers covered issues on political crises and governance in Latin America. Conferences also discussed changes arising from the recent elections in Bolivia and Uruguay. Additionally, participants analyzed matters referring to political culture, the nationalist component in democracies, and the perception of corruption in the region.

2. Electoral campaigns and the media: The overall presentations analyzed the complex relationship between the media and politics, as well as public opinion research and its role in electoral campaigns. In particular, some explored the relationship between political campaigns and the media, debating principles of electoral marketing and image building in campaign strategies. Finally, one discussion examined the evolution of public opinion of the electorate during Lula da Silva’s administration and the volatility of Ecuador’s electorate in the electoral process of 2006.

3. Methodological questions and challenges: Diverse papers covered themes on the efficacy of surveys in building quality-of-life indices, the advantages and disadvantages of panel studies, the use of comparative research methods, the reliability of exit polls, and the application of techniques to predict election results. A panel also presented some comparative projects in public opinion.

4. Public opinion and social analysis: Three in ten round tables presented studies based on public opinion data coming from different countries. Topics dealt with problematic issues like sexual and reproductive rights, persons living with HIV, views on the female condom, gender and poverty, sexuality, politics and violence, the youth and politics, patriotism and consumption, volunteerism, social protest, and social capital.

 

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