Tolerance and Legitimacy: Dynamics of Income Inequality and Its Perceptions, in Latin America and Worldwide.

Inequality has been positioned in the mass public debate on last years. In the case of Latin America, two important processes have occurred in the last decade: First, there had been much study on the decline in income inequality in the continent, at least for the period of the first decade of the XXI century, contrary to studies that shows an opposite tendency in other regions and countries of the world. Second, perceptions of inequality among Latin American individuals seem to "tolerate" the gap, in spite of considering that magnitude of the gap is "excessive". It is interesting how the perception of inequality in Latin America does not differ to a great extent to those of other countries where clearly the objective levels of income inequality are much lower.

Considering this, there are two research questions that together reveals another one: 1) What has been the dynamics of income inequality in the world and in Latin America, in the period after 2000? 2) How have been modified the perceptions of inequality, both globally and in Latin America? 3) How are related the various current dynamics of inequality with perceptions of inequality and the legitimacy of the social justice system?

There are several important results. First, there is a turning point in the trend of economic inequality for Latin America, after the economic crisis that began in 2008, and comparisons are made with the world trend. Then, regional differences are found in trends in the perception of inequality, placing a special focus on the Latin American trend. Finally, a reflection is made on the relation between the tendency of income inequality and the perception of inequality, and how this is associated with persistence of tolerance and legitimacy of the current socioeconomic system.