Judging the Judiciary: Understanding Public Confidence in Latin American Courts. (15th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Salzman, Ryan; Ramsey, Adam
• Is Part Of: Latin American politics and society. Volume 55:Number 1(2013:Spring)
• Page Start: 73
• Page End: 95
• Publication Date: 2013-02-15
• Subjects: Latin America -- Periodicals; Amérique latine -- Périodiques; Sociale ontwikkeling; Politieke ontwikkeling; 980
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-2456.2013.00184.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1531-426X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <p>Although there is a substantial literature examining public confidence in the judiciary in developed nations, scholars have paid scant attention to analyzing judicial confidence in developing countries. Building on extant work regarding developed nations and introducing original hypotheses in the context of developing nations, this research explains influences on public confidence in Latin American judiciaries by developing a theory that focuses on the potential influences of institutional quality, experiences, and individual attitudes. The hypotheses are empirically tested with the rich individual‐level data compiled by the Latin American Public Opinion Project 2006 survey. The results indicate that a variety of factors influence public confidence in Latin American courts; the role of context explains points of consistency and divergence with research on developed nations.</p> </abstract>