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Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024
Available in other languages: Español
Public services
Trust in government in Latin America remains comparatively low
As of 2022, 36.3% of the population in 16 LAC countries had trust in the national government, lower than in OECD and other world regions. While democracies in the region have consolidated, trust has continued to decline since the 2008 economic crisis, when it was 43%.
Participation
Public participation can be made more inclusive and effective
Participation and representation processes are at the heart of democracy. Many LAC countries have been at the forefront of innovative participation mechanisms that now need to be broadened to different population groups. In LAC, 15 countries have open government strategies to enhance the participation of women in public decision making and 14 have strategies targeted at youth; only 8 have strategies to involve socially or economically marginalised people. Ten countries had at least one digital platform to enhance participation in public consultations.
Gender equality
Despite some progress, women are under-represented in politics
Equal representation of women and men in the legislative is a key indicator of progress towards gender equality and diversity. Women representation in politics has improved since 2019. However, in 2023 women hold less than one-third of seats in the lower or single houses of the legislative branch in LAC countries, in line with OECD countries.
Climate crisis
Governments can do more to fight the climate crisis
Governments can use many public management tools to help address the climate crisis and achieve environmental goals. An example is public procurement that can be directed to promote sustainability, environmental responsibility and the purchase of products and services that are less environmentally damaging. In Latin America, only 9 of the 19 surveyed countries have strategies at the central level of government on green public procurement. In contrast, all 32 surveyed OECD countries have a green public procurement framework.
Green budgeting, which involves integrating climate and environmental considerations into decisions on taxes and public spending, is another management tool countries can use to achieve the green transition. However, only 5 out of the 12 surveyed LAC countries use green budgeting mechanisms, compared to 67% of OECD countries.
Public Integrity
Public integrity standards need to be implemented in practice
Countries in the LAC region need to accelerate the implementation of their regulations on lobbying, political finance and conflict of interests, a challenge also for OECD countries. While 93% of LAC countries have regulations specifying conflict of interest situations, only one third implement them in practice.
Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024
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The 2024 edition of Government at a Glance Latin America and the Caribbean provides the latest available evidence on public administrations and their performance in the LAC region and compares it to OECD countries. It includes indicators on trust in public institutions and satisfaction with public services, as well as evidence on good governance practices in areas such as the policy cycle, budgeting, public procurement, infrastructure planning and delivery, regulatory governance, digital government and open government data.
