Evolution Of Honduran Partisan Competition. From Low Ideological Polarization to Radicalization

Abstract

This article addresses the role of ideology in the dynamics of Honduran party competition from 1994 to the present. For this purpose, we carried out an analysis of the structure of the ideological competition in Honduras’ party system. We used survey data on ideological self-placement of this country’s legislators and their perception of the parties’ positions on the left-right dimension. The analysis shows a transformation of a party system where, for decades, electoral competition was characterized by its low level of ideological polarization towards a more polarized system. These results allow us to verify the important changes produced in the structure of the Honduran party system since the 2013 general elections. Afterwards, the competitiveness and fragmentation of the party system increased significantly.