political

Democracy focus of regional forum

Carlos Lemos/ lA PRENSA

middling: Political scientist Orlando Pérez said Panama scored average marks in support for democracy and interpersonal trust. 1099004

Orlando Pérez may be a Cuban living in the United States, but he knows Panamanian politics as well as any native. This week, the political science professor at the University of Michigan traveled to Panama to discuss the results of the annual “Barómetro de las Américas,” a study of democratic values and political culture in 22 Latin American countries. Panama, which has been included in the forum since 2004, did not figure well in terms of governmental corruption.

Pérez found that when compared with the other 21 countries, Panama showed up right in the middle in most indicators, particularly those relating to support for democracy, political tolerance, legitimacy of its institutions, support for the opposition’s right to participate and interpersonal trust.

“We see strong support for democracy as the best political system available,” he said. “But there’s a big difference in support for democracy and the level of satisfaction for how it’s actually working.”

This year’s “Barómetro” sought to analyze the influence of three crucial factors of corruption, crime and delinquency, and economic performance on democratic governance, all issues that have generated much attention in the country over the last few months.

According to Pérez, the studies show a link between a high level or perception of relative insecurity and diminishing support for democracy and interpersonal trust, a key factor in creating a strong civil society.

“The perception of corruption is high, but [...] when we asked people if they had been victims of bribes, only 9 percent said ‘yes,’” he explained. “I have no doubt that a lot of corruption exists, in terms of public contracts and businessmen or politicians, but that's not what we were measuring.”

On the eve of next year’s presidential elections, Pérez was asked how Panamanians viewed political parties. He responded with raucous laughter.

“I laugh because they view them very badly. Political parties and the Asamblea [Nacional] are the two institutions with the lowest confidence level,” he said. “When asked whether the Panamanians to sympathize with any parties, 60 percent said no, despite the fact that the majority of voters registered with political parties. There is a gap between the sympathy and registrations. All we know is how people in political parties in Panama. Good news is that Panama has a fairly high voter turnout.”