UNDERSTANDING SATISFACTION WITH THE WAY DEMOCRACY WORKS (original) (raw)
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European Journal of Political Research, 2012
Are citizens in consensus democracies with developed direct democratic institutions more satisfied with their political system than those in majoritarian democracies? In this article, individual-level data from the second wave of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and an updated version of Lijphart's multivariate measure of consensus and majoritarian democracy covering 24 countries are used to investigate this question. The findings from logistic multilevel models indicate that consensual cabinet types and direct democratic institutions are associated with higher levels of citizens' satisfaction with democracy. Furthermore, consensus democracy in these institutions closes the gap in satisfaction with democracy between losers and winners of elections by both comforting losers and reducing the satisfaction of winners. Simultaneously, consensus democracy in terms of electoral rules, the executive-legislative power balance, interest groups and the party system reduces the satisfaction of election winners, but does not enhance that of losers.
Satisfaction with democracy: A note on a frequently used indicator in comparative politics
European Journal of Political Research, 2003
This article offers a critical investigation of one indicator of support for democracy frequently used by comparativists. Departing from a theoretical multidimensional model of political support, and drawing on large-scale public opinion surveys, we argue that the survey item 'satisfaction with the way democracy works' is not an indicator of support for the principles of democracy. Rather, it is an item that taps the level of support for the way the democratic regime works in practice. At the same time, we show that this item is far from a perfect indicator of support for the performance of a democratic regime, since it is highly sensitive to different institutional contexts. By demonstrating empirically some of the problems involved when trying to asses the levels of support for democracy in postcommunist Europe, we argue for a more cautious approach when analysing problems of legitimacy in processes of democratic consolidation. We also advocate the need for multiple indicators when analysing political support.
Satisfied? Institutional Determinants of Citizen Evaluations of Democracy
Politics & …, 2004
Based on theories about party and electoral systems provided by Downs (1957), Anderson and Guillory (1997), and Duverger (1984), we examine the relationship between citizen satisfaction with democracy and the institutional context in which democratic participation takes place. Using a multi-level design that controls for both institutional-level and individual-level differences, we find that as the number of political parties increases. citizen satisfaction with democracy first decreases and then increases. This result holdr regardless of whether or not one supported the ruling government in the previous election, undermining previous research that contendr that "winner" or "loser" status l e d to diverging evaluations of democratic structures, even when controlling for economic evaluations. Aallitionally, wefind that satisfaction with democracy is signijcantly lower in large district proportional representation (PR) systems relative to singlemember district systems and when the dijference between votes and legislative seat-shares is high. This finding suggests that we ought to reconsider the theoretical interaction between representativeness and efective governance as well as the democratic process versus the outcomes of elections.
Public support for democracy: Results from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project
Electoral Studies, 2008
While democracy looks set to become the global political norm, most studies have analysed the phenomenon from either a micro (voter) or a macro (institutional) perspective. The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems aims to combine these two perspectives in order to address key questions about the process of democratization. This special symposium uses the second CSES module, conducted between 2001 and 2006 in 38 countries, to examine public support for democracy. The eight articles cover three themes in public support for democracy: popular satisfaction with democracy; accountability and system performance; and the participation of social groups. All of the articles underline the importance of understanding the interaction between institutional arrangements and voter behaviour in order to gauge the health of democracy. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Ã Tel.: þ61 (0) 2 6125 5553; fax: þ61 (0) 2 6125 3051.
What Satisfaction with Democracy? A Global Analysis of “Satisfaction with Democracy” Measures
Political Research Quarterly, 2021
Asking citizens “the way democracy works” is the basis of a wide literature on the support citizens have for their political institutions and is one of the most common survey items in political science. Moreover, it is a key indicator for the purported global decline in legitimacy. Yet, its trends, levels, and dynamics are still debated, and conclusions may be erroneous. In this paper, we compile a unique global dataset between 1973 and 2018 encompassing all major cross-national datasets and national election studies in twelve countries to study the dynamics and consistency of “satisfaction with democracy” (SWD) measures globally. Our results show that while trends and between-country differences in democratic satisfaction are largely similar, the levels of satisfaction vary substantially between survey projects, and both trends and levels vary significantly in several widely studied countries. We show that this has consequences at the individual level: opting for one survey over an...
Unpublished Review of Anderson and Guillory’s Political Institutions and Satisfaction with Democracy
In their work on political institutions and satisfaction with democracy, Anderson and Guillory attempt to answer the question of whether the type of democratic institutions a country possesses has an impact on the satisfaction level of citizens in that country, as well as determine which type of democracy is more satisfactory to winners and losers, consensual or majoritarian democracies. (1997, p. 66) Basing their work largely off of Arend Lijphart's study of democratic
Policy Performance and Satisfaction with Democracy
Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration, 2011
Page 1. Policy Performance and Satisfaction with Democracy* Eva Heiða Önnudóttir, doctoral student in political science, Mannheim University and Ólafur Þ. Harðarson, professor of political science and Dean of the School of Social Sciences, University of Iceland Abstract ...