Citizens’ Trust in Election Management Bodies: A Multilevel Study of Latin America

This study examines the extent to which citizens’ trust in election management bodies (EMBs) is shaped by the autonomy of these institutions. Drawing on 5 years of survey data from 17 Latin American countries and a series of (mixed-effects) ordered-logistic regressions, it reveals two key findings. First, there is a robust, positive association between EMB autonomy and citizens’ trust. And second, both individual- and country-level factors significantly influence citizens’ trust in EMBs. In doing so, the study makes an empirical contribution to a literature often confined to single-year or single-country analyses. It also makes a theoretical contribution by treating EMBs as regulatory institutions, and by extending the literature on regulatory trust to the electoral domain. This offers new conceptual insights, as well as practical guidance for policy makers seeking to strengthen democratic legitimacy through institutional design.