The Impact of Insecurity on Democracy and Trust in Institutions in Mexico

Using survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and Encuesta Nacional Sobre la Inseguridad (ENSI) for Mexico during the period 2004-2010, this paper analyses the impact of insecurity and crime victimization on support and satisfaction with democracy and trust in institutions. With the LAPOP data, perceptions about higher insecurity decrease support and satisfaction with democracy. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a negative significant effect on trust in institutions, and this finding is robust to using LAPOP and ENSI data. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a larger negative effect on trust in institutions that directly deal with crime, such as the police and judicial system. Data also shows that those states with higher drug trafficking activity show lower trust in institutions, and that trust in institutions has deteriorated over time at a faster pace in the northeast and northwest regions