Choosing the Lesser Evil: Forecasting Presidential Elections in Peru

The Peruvian political landscape is dominated by the weakness of party organizations, the continuous rotation of political personalities, and, in turn, high electoral volatility and uncertainty. Nevertheless, we observe patterns of electoral competition that suggest candidates learn to capture the p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Moisés Arce, Sofía Vera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2022-06-01
Series:Revista Latinoamericana de Opinión Pública
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/1852-9003/article/view/25805
Description
Summary:The Peruvian political landscape is dominated by the weakness of party organizations, the continuous rotation of political personalities, and, in turn, high electoral volatility and uncertainty. Nevertheless, we observe patterns of electoral competition that suggest candidates learn to capture the political center and compete over the continuation of an economic model that has sustained growth. We use this information to record the vote intention for the candidate viewed as the lesser evil. Our forecasting results predict a good share of the variation in political support for this candidate. The out-of-sample prediction also comes fairly close to the real electoral results. These findings provide some degree of electoral certainty in an area that, to date, remains understudied.
ISSN:1852-9003
2660-700X