Democratic Challenges, Democratic Choices

Abstract

Most democratic citizens today are distrustful of politicians, political parties, and political institutions. Where once democracies expected an allegiant public, citizens now question the very pillars of representative democracy. This book documents the erosion of political support in virtually all advanced industrial democracies. Assembling a large array of cross-national public opinion data, this book traces the current challenges to democracy primary to changing citizen values and rising expectations. These dissatisfied democrats are concentrated among the young, the better educated, and the politically sophisticated. At the same time, the evidence debunks claims that such trends are a function of scandals, poor performance, and other government failures. Changing public opinion is born from the successful social modernization of these nations. A creedal passion for democracy is sweeping across the Western democracies, and people now expect more of their governments. This book concludes by examining the consequences of these changing images of government. The book finds that these expectations are making governing more difficult, but also fuelling demands for political reform. The choices that democracies may in response to these challenges lead to a further expansion of the democratic process and a new relationship between citizens and their government.

The Eroding Effect of Corruption on System Support in Sweden

“…1 We argue that citizens' evaluations of the impartiality of institutions and public officials have a significant impact on evaluations of the performance of the political system as a whole (cf. Anderson et al 2005;Dalton 2004;Easton 1965Easton , 1975Norris 1999). Our theoretical and empirical claim is thus closely related to the argument behind the "procedural fairness" theory, that is, the willingness of citizens to defer to the decisions and rules created and implemented by public authorities and institutions depends on the fairness of the procedures through which these authorities exercise their authority (Tyler 2006).…”

Broadening the individual differences lens on party support and voting behavior: Cynicism and prejudice as relevant attitudes referring to modern‐day political alignments

“…Berman (1997) argued that captious anger and hostility are endemic to what constitutes cynicism, and political cynics even have a pervasive disbelief in the possibility of good intentions of politicians. Recently, Dalton (2004Dalton ( , 2013 noticed a rise in political cynicism in Western societies. Furthermore, Pattyn, Van Hiel, Dhont, and Onraet (2012) showed that political cynics' skepticism towards politic(ian)s can be considered a potential hazard to democracy, as it is accompanied by lower governmental credibility and legitimacy, lower electoral and political participation, and increased support for extreme protest parties (B elanger & Aarts, 2006;Bergh, 2004).…”

“…Some political pundits attributed this success to ever increasing cynicism and anti-immigration attitudes. Indeed, public opinion and political debate have become polarized, leading many citizens to become cynical about politics and politicians (Dalton, 2004(Dalton, , 2013. At the same time, a rise of anti-immigration sentiment has been noticed (Pettigrew & Meertens, 1995;Semyonov, Raijman, & Gorodzeisky, 2006).…”

The Process is the Reality: Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Participatory Democracy

“…Public confidence and support for democratic institutions is declining across established Western democracies (Dalton, 1999;Newton, 2006;Norris, 1999a). Documenting this decline across several countries, Russell Dalton (2004) notes that in Britain there has been general erosion in support of the party system and a decline in confidence expressed in the House of Commons. John Curtice and Roger Jowell (1995; demonstrate that in the UK voters are increasingly 'sceptical' about government and 'the ability of the system to respond to the demands of the citizenry' (1995, p. 167), concluding that 'Britain still appears to have low levels of confidence in both its political system and its politicians ' (1997, p. 107).…”