Economic values and party preference in Mexico, Argentina, and the United States

This article analyses the impact of economic orientations on party choice using a path analysis framework with latent variables. The model assumes that economic orientations are indicators of a latent variable, called ideology, which has an impact on citizen's voting preferences. Ideology in turn, is affected by, and mediates, the impact of socioeconomic status on party preferences. The article presents these relationships in the context of two democracies that underwent important structural economic changes (Mexico and Argentina) and the United States.