The Geography of Repression and Opposition to Autocracy

68 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2018 Last revised: 31 Aug 2020

See all articles by Maria Angelica Bautista

Maria Angelica Bautista

University of Chicago

Felipe González

Queen Mary University of London

Luis R. Martinez

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy

Pablo Munoz

Universidad de Chile

Mounu Prem

Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF)

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Date Written: April 24, 2020

Abstract

State repression is a prominent feature of non-democracies, but its effectiveness in quieting dissent and fostering regime survival remains unclear. We exploit the location of military bases before the coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile in 1973, which is uncorrelated to pre-coup electoral outcomes, and show that counties near these bases experienced more killings and forced disappearances at the hands of the government during the dictatorship. Our main result is that residents of counties close to military bases both registered to vote and voted “No” to Pinochet’s continuation in power at higher rates in the crucial 1988 plebiscite that bolstered the democratic transition. Potential mechanisms include informational frictions on the intensity of repression in counties far from bases and shifts in preferences caused by increased proximity to the events. Election outcomes after democratization show no lasting change in political preferences.

Keywords: Dictatorship, Repression, Democratization, Military, Pinochet, Chile

JEL Classification: D72, N46

Suggested Citation

Bautista, Maria Angelica and González, Felipe and Martinez, Luis and Munoz, Pablo and Prem, Mounu, The Geography of Repression and Opposition to Autocracy (April 24, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3249606 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3249606

Maria Angelica Bautista

University of Chicago ( email )

1101 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Felipe González (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London ( email )

Mile End Road
London, London E1 4NS
United Kingdom

Luis Martinez

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy ( email )

1155 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Pablo Munoz

Universidad de Chile ( email )

Beauchef 851, Santiago
Santiago, R. Metropolitana 7520421
Chile

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/view/pablomh

Mounu Prem

Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF) ( email )

Via Due Macelli, 73
Rome, 00187
Italy

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