The Effects of Protest on Public Opinion: Evidence from Colombia

Abstract

How do mass protests affect political attitudes among the public? I argue that protests can convey information about the government’s performance, which in turn factors into individuals’ consideration of political attitudes. To illustrate this argument, I explore two distinct cases of protest movements in Colombia: the 2018 student strike for higher education reform, and the mass social unrest of 2021. I employ a type of natural experiment known as an ”unexpected event during surveys” design by exploiting the timing of the protests during the fieldwork period of the LAPOP Americas Barometer survey. The results suggest that in both cases, the onset of protests led to a swift and significant shift in several political attitudes, including approval of the incumbent president and pride in the national political system. This paper contributes to a growing body of literature which demonstrates that protests can be a powerful force for swaying public opinion.

Keywords: protests, public opinion, social movements, Latin American politics