Bolivia has undergone a deep process of institutional reform since its return to democracy in 1982 that is recognized internationally as one of the deepest in the Latin American region. Despite all the efforts of the Bolivian state to improve and modernize its institutions, Bolivia has one of the lowest levels of institutional trust among Latin American countries and data show evidence that trust in political institutions tends to decrease over time. At the same time, Bolivia is the poorest country in South America; it has high levels of corruption in the public administration and in the last years an increasingly unstable political environment. Evidence indicates that the effects of a regional polarization of interests, the negative perceptions of the economic situation and of corruption and low levels of political knowledge among the Bolivian population are reliable predictors of low levels of institutional trust that consistently overshadow the accomplishments of Bolivian governments in improving their institutional performances.
institutional trust; regional interests; economic situation; Bolivia
