Cultural diversity and political legitimacy in plurinational states
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70577/65x7xg69Keywords:
Institutional trust, democracy, cultural diversity, plurinational states, political legitimacy, political participation, indigenous representation.Abstract
Cultural diversity in plurinational states poses challenges to political legitimacy when the constitutional recognition of peoples and nationalities does not translate into effective representation, institutional trust, or substantive participation. The study aimed to analyze the relationship between cultural diversity and political legitimacy in Ecuador and Bolivia, considering institutional recognition, participation, representation, and democratic satisfaction. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational, and comparative approach was employed using secondary data from the 2023 Latinobarómetro; the documentary population comprised 4,800 individuals from Andean countries, and the analytical sample included 2,400 participants from Bolivia and Ecuador (1,200 cases per country). Descriptive statistics and comparative analyses were applied. Results showed that support for democracy reached 51% in Bolivia and 37% in Ecuador, while democratic satisfaction stood at 22% and 12%, respectively; dissatisfaction reached 75% in Bolivia and 87% in Ecuador. Furthermore, mean satisfaction was 2.04 points in Bolivia and 1.70 in Ecuador. It was concluded that formal plurinationality did not, in itself, guarantee political legitimacy, as the latter also depended on institutional trust, substantive representation, state performance, and public responsiveness.
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