Center for Global Democracy and LAPOP Lab

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Latin American Public Opinion
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The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) is a leader in the development, implementation, and analysis of data on individual opinions and behavior. As a center for excellence in survey research, LAPOP uses “gold standard” approaches and innovative methods to carry out targeted and national surveys; conduct impact evaluation studies; and produce reports on individual attitudes, evaluations, and experiences across the Americas. LAPOP’s origins date to the 1970s, in research by Dr. Mitchell Seligson on democratic values in Costa Rica. This pioneering effort took place in the 1970s, a time in which much of the rest of Latin America was caught in the grip of repressive regimes that widely prohibited studies of public opinion. As democratization expanded in Latin America, LAPOP grew in scope and size. Today, LAPOP is engaged in research in every country in Latin America, Canada, the United States, and much of the Caribbean. LAPOP’s AmericasBarometer regional survey is the only scientifically rigorous comparative survey that covers all of the mainland independent countries in North, Central and South America, as well as a significant number of countries in the Caribbean. With the AmericasBarometer, LAPOP measures values, behaviors and socio-economic conditions in the Americas using national probability samples of voting-age adults. Standardization of methods across the national surveys and a common core permits valid comparisons across countries and time, allowing the AmericasBarometer to serve as a true "barometer" tracking shifts in individual opinions and behaviors. Stratified sample designs, available on LAPOP's website, permit complex analyses of individuals nested within sub-regions. In addition to a common core, individual questionnaires contain country-specific modules that allow experts to assess topics of particular relevance to the country. The AmericasBarometer series begins in 2004 and includes 34 countries and over 228,000 interviews.

Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy (CGD) is a premier social science institute dedicated to advancing the understanding of how democracies emerge, function, and evolve. Through research grounded in the highest standards of scientific rigor, CGD examines how mass publics perceive, experience, and support democratic governance, while also generating insights that inform policy innovation to strengthen democracy worldwide.

At the core of CGD’s work is LAPOP Lab, a globally recognized leader in international survey research, particularly in the Americas. Founded in 2004 by Dr. Mitchell A. Seligson as the Latin American Public Opinion Project, LAPOP Lab has grown into a hub of excellence in the design, implementation, and analysis of large-scale public opinion studies. Under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth J. Zechmeister from 2013 to 2024 and now under Dr. Noam Lupu, the LAPOP Lab continues to serve as an established world leader in the study of public opinion and political behavior. Its data and analysis are widely cited in academic research, government reports, and global media. The LAPOP Lab team brings deep expertise in rigorous social-scientific methodologies, innovative survey techniques, impact evaluation, and capacity building, while also collaborating with and training scholars and practitioners across a global network of universities, civil society organizations, intergovernmental institutions, and government agencies.

The centerpiece of LAPOP Lab’s work is the AmericasBarometer, the leading source of high-quality, comparative public opinion data on democracy and governance across the Western Hemisphere. Conducted in regular rounds since 2004, the AmericasBarometer surveys nationally representative samples of voting-age adults in countries across North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean. What began as a study in 11 countries has expanded to include up to 34 countries in the region, enabling unparalleled cross-national and longitudinal analysis.

Each round of the AmericasBarometer features a standardized core questionnaire alongside country-specific modules, allowing researchers to examine trends over time and compare experiences across countries on key issues such as political legitimacy, corruption, trust in institutions, state performance, civic engagement, citizen security, and migration. The most recent round, conducted in 2023, includes more than 41,000 interviews across 26 countries. To date, the AmericasBarometer has collected over 400,000 interviews, making it the most extensive survey project of its kind in the Americas and an indispensable resource for understanding democratic attitudes and behavior in the region.