The relationship between ideology and climate change opinion in Latin America

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This master's thesis examines whether there is a relationship between ideology and climate attitudes in Latin America. There are very few studies about climate change opinion in the region, but those that exist show that the region homogenously believes in climate change at very high rates. For the first time, the Latinobarometro (2017) asked about climate change skepticism across the region, allowing for investigation of political determinants. I begin the project in the first section with an exploratory analysis that looks at the relationship between ideology and climate attitudes across the region. In the second section, I develop a theory that should explain variation across countries. Finally, in the third section, I test the theory in each country individually.