Political attitudes and participation of informal and formal sector workers in Mexico

This work addresses the political attitudes and participation of informal sector workers in Mexico. Conventional wisdom leads to the expectation that informal sector workers would have lower levels of system-supportive political attitudes and lower levels of political participation. This article, using data from 514 surveys conducted in Mexico in 1997, examines the relationship between informal sector employment and system-supportive political attitudes and participation by comparing informal and formal sector workers. Analysis here shows that for those attitudes and forms of participation in which informal sector workers differ, they are likely to have more supportive attitudes toward the state and to participate in politics at a higher level than their formal sector counterparts.