Perceptions of Democracy in Latin America and the World. What are social and community leaders’ cognitions, attitudes and evaluations about really existing democracy?.

The panel discusses the perceptions popular leaders have about the functioning of their national democracies and what attributes, practices and purposes they assign to it. We are especially interested in the collective beliefs about the relationships between political democracy, equality and economic freedom, and the importance of social rights and collective well-being. The analysis of social leaders’ expectations regarding democracy will offer clues on the reasons for citizen frustration with this type of political regime and will allow us to consider possible reforms and mechanisms to counteract the erosion of democracy, the establishment of autocracies and the expansion of hybrid regimes globally.