• DOI:10.25222/LARR.387
• Corpus ID: 150818230

Living in Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods: Impacts on Electoral and Nonelectoral Participation in El Salvador

@article{Crdova2019LivingIG,
  title={Living in Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods: Impacts on Electoral and Nonelectoral Participation in El Salvador},
  author={Abby C{\'o}rdova},
  journal={Latin American Research Review},
  year={2019}
}

• Abby Córdova
• Published 10 April 2019
• Political Science, Law
• Latin American Research Review

Gangs’ territorial control affects the lives of residents in thousands of neighborhoods across Latin America, particularly in northern Central American countries. I argue that gang dominance constrains the ability of neighborhood residents to mobilize politically and consequently resist gang violence through institutionalized channels. Living in gang-controlled neighborhoods results in fewer incentives and opportunities to make political elites accountable for one’s personal safety. Even residents who have already experienced crime firsthand are discouraged from turning to politics as a strategy to change the status quo. My theoretical insights identify mechanisms through which gangs’ neighborhood control affects nonelectoral and electoral participation. To test my hypotheses, I rely on census and public opinion data collected in seventy-one neighborhoods in El Salvador. This article offers the first systematic statistical analysis of the effect of gangs’ territorial control on political participation in the Latin American context. The findings suggest that living under gang rule undermines residents’ right to engage freely in politics in nuanced ways. Resumen El control territorial de pandillas afecta a residentes en miles de barrios en toda America Latina, particularmente en paises en el area norte de Centroamerica. El control territorial limita la movilizacion politica, y por lo tanto la posibilidad de resistir la violencia criminal utilizando mecanismos institucionalizados. Vivir en un barrio controlado limita la probabilidad que los ciudadanos demanden mejoras a su seguridad personal. Aun quien ha sido victima del crimen, no tiene el incentivo de involucrarse en politica para tratar de cambiar el statu quo. Se identifican mecanismos por medio de los cuales el control territorial afecta la participacion electoral y no electoral. Se utilizan datos de opinion publica y de censo en setenta y un barrios en El Salvador. Por lo que se ofrece el primer analisis estadistico sistematico del efecto que tiene el control territorial por pandillas sobre la participacion politica en el contexto latinoamericano. Los resultados sugieren que el vivir bajo el dominio de pandillas socava el derecho ciudadano de involucrarse libremente en politica.