New indices measuring the quality of democracy constitute a significant innovation in comparative political science. They might, however, provide a biased perspective because they largely focus on macro-level criteria. Thus, the question is whether the measurement of the quality of democracy can be improved by complementing the evaluations of these indices with assessments based on individual-level survey data. Using data from 20 established democracies in the European Social Survey 2012 and the Democracy Barometer, we compare the understandings and evaluations of the quality of democracy underlying these two measurement approaches. We demonstrate that while the results coincide to a certain extent, individual-level data provide an important complementary perspective that adds to the validity of the measurement of the quality of democracy.
Although EU member states have committed themselves to upholding the fundamental democratic values enshrined in Article 2 Treaty on European Union, violations of these values could be observed in some member states—first and foremost in Hungary and Poland. This article studies whether these negative developments, which are often summarized under the terms backsliding or erosion of democracy, should be classified as a loss in the quality of democracy or even as a decline of democracy. By drawing on Gero Erdmann’s (2011) theoretical definition of decline of democracy and using Democracy Barometer data for the period between 2004 and 2016, this form of loss of the quality of democracy is analysed for the 28 EU member states. In addition, the EU’s role in safeguarding democracy in its member states is discussed. The article shows that it is not only the new EU members that show a decline of democracy more frequently, but the old EU members. The EU as guardian of the democratic fundamental values is failing to live up to its role despite the numerous instruments it has at its disposal.
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