The Salience of Crime in Satisfaction with Democracy in Central America

Abstract

This paper examines public opinion data to assess public concern about ordinary crime and the effect of this concern on satisfaction with democracy. I use public opinion data from Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua and show that victimization and concern about crime do not negatively affect citizens satisfaction with democracy in these three countries. I argue that increases in crime is more a function of the decisions of political elites to emphasize certain types of delinquencies (particularly property and drug related crimes) in an attempt to advance a political, economic and social agenda rather than a public demand for the government to combat solely an expanding wave of lawlessness.