Identifying sources of democratic legitimacy: A multilevel analysis

Huang, Min-hua; Chang, Yu-tzung; Chu, Yun‐han

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2007.11.002

Cited by 74 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Many studies have analyzed answers to questions containing the abstract term "democracy" (e.g. Esmer, 2002;Huang, Chang, & Chu, 2008;Massis, 1998). The answers to such questions are difficult to interpret if we do not know exactly how people understand democracy (Canache, Mondak, & Seligson, 2001;Linde & Ekman, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arabs Want Democracy, but What Kind?

Regt¹

2013

AASoci

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In recent times, Arabs have shown the world that they are ready for additional democratic reforms. We must nevertheless question what democracy means to them. How do they think about the role of religious leaders in democracy? Does democracy imply extending the rights of women? How do Arabs see the connection between democracy and a prosperous economy? Answers to these and similar questions are important in order to interpret the high levels of support for democracy that are being observed in the Arab world, as well as the possible outcomes of the Arab spring. It is also important to examine whether Arabs have a common understanding of democracy or whether they disagree on the form that democracy should take. Wide variations in the meaning of democracy could retard the process of democratization. In this article, public opinion data from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Morocco are used to develop a detailed image of what democracy means to Arabs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arabs Want Democracy, but What Kind?

Regt¹

2013

AASoci

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“…In Europe, Wagner and colleagues analyzed a series of Eurobarometer surveys from 1990 to 2000, demonstrating that quality of governance indicators for rule of law, well-functioning regulation, and low corruption strengthened satisfaction with democracy more strongly than economic considerations (Wagner et al 2009). Similarly multilevel analysis comparing forty nations, based on the CSES Module II survey, also concluded that political goods such as freedom, accountability and representativeness, were more important sources of democratic satisfaction than narrower indices of policy performance (Huang et al 2008; see also Bishin et al 2006). Moreover process explanations can also be applied to help account for contrasts within particular countries; for example, Hibbing and Theiss-Morse argue that the US Congress is unpopular relative to the other branches of the federal government because its decision-making processes are often bitterly partisan and divisive Theiss-Morse 1995, 2002).…”

Section: Process Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

How Democracy Works : Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies

Rosema¹,

Denters²,

Aarts³

2011

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DemocracyCover design and layout: Maedium, Utrecht All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owners and the authors of the book. PrefaceThere are many good reasons to present a book on the functioning of representative democracy at this precise moment. But the true reason for its creation is a special event of a personal nature: the formal retirement of Jacques Thomassen at the University of Twente. In his long and impressive academic career Jacques Thomassen has greatly contributed to the study of democracy. He has authored and edited several influential academic works, which already started with one of his first articles in 1976, entitled "Party identification as a cross-national concept," which is still considered to be a classic in the literature on voting behavior. His publications since include many books in both Dutch and English, often published by the leading academic publishers in political science. His reputation as an editor of books is almost unrivalled in political science. But there is much more. Jacques Thomassen has played a vital role in the development of major national and international data collection projects about political institutions, such as the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies, Dutch Parliament Studies, Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the European Election Studies. The data that are still generated on the basis of these collaborative projects provide a most valuable source of information for the study of democracy -without it researchers would arguably not be able to adequately study the functioning of democracy -and thus form one of the most important developments in the last decades in political science. This Liber Amicorum serves to honour Jacques Thomassen for his extremely valuable contribution to the study of democracy. In his career he has collaborated with dozens of academics from many countries. They have learned to know Jacques Thomassen as a most competent and erudite scholar and a good colleague; and many enjoy the privilege of being amongst the many friends that he has made over these years. This volume is a collection of essays by some of these colleagues and friends. In planning this volume, we had to be very restrictive, and as a result many colleagues who would have liked to contribute to this book could not be taken on board. The final set of essays demonstrate the appreciation of the authors for Jacques Thomassen by bringing together in this volume some of their very best and fresh work on the theme that has been at the heart of his research agenda: the functioning of representative democracy. Together, these contributions provide the most up-to-date assessment of how democracy works in the world of today. The contributions in this volume have been created in the spi...

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“…However, his theorizing and empirical research concerns support for political parties, rather than perceptions of institutional legitimacy, and little previous research has been conducted on clustering of legitimacy perceptions. Comparative political science research (e.g., Anderson & Singer, 2008;Huang, Chang, & Chu, 2008) has attempted to explain variance in legitimacy perceptions between nations (e.g., the EU) as a function of particular characteristics of each nation's political system (e.g., inequality rankings). However, cross-national multilevel analysis of this kind is not what is being proposed here.…”

Section: Social Interaction Effects and Institutional Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rebuilding institutional legitimacy in post-conflict societies: a case study of Nepal

Fisk¹

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Legitimacy refers to the perceived rightfulness of authorities, and is central to citizens' perceptions of institutions such as the government. Legitimate authority is linked to acceptance of institutions and long-term stability of societies. As such, rebuilding the legitimacy of institutions such as the government and judiciary ('institutional legitimacy') is essential for stability in post-conflict societies. In this thesis, I explore the factors that lead citizens to view their government as legitimate following the reconstruction of central government institutions after a conflict. I draw on sociological, political science, social psychological and statebuilding theories to develop and present a theoretical model of post-conflict legitimacy.The model has three key components. The first encompasses relational and instrumental antecedents of legitimacy. Relational antecedents encompass fair and neutral decision-making, as well as respectful and dignified treatment, and are referred to collectively as procedural justice. Instrumental antecedents are those which involve outcomes to citizens, and include distributive justice (fairness in outcome distribution), outcome favourability (personal gain in outcomes), and government performance (the ability of the government to function effectively and provide services to citizens). These main variables are investigated along with contingencies relating to social groups that may influence the relationship between procedural justice and legitimacy, such as national identification and group power. Testing of the first model component revealed that procedural justice was by far the strongest predictor of post-conflict institutional legitimacy, and was significantly stronger than instrumental variables such as distributive justice, government performance, and outcome favourability. Further, the relationship between procedural justice and legitimacy was moderated by national identification and group power, suggesting that procedural justice operates through social identity to exert its positive effect. Moreover, the effect of procedural justice on government legitimacy was not simply due to trust and performance perceptions of local institutions, and was not diminished by the government's ability to provide essential services (as predicted by the statebuilding literature). 4Testing of the second model component revealed that two elements of local ownership-voice and local influence-weakly predicted legitimacy, with these relationships varying according to participants' position in the Nepalese caste hierarchy.Testing of the third model component revealed a significant social interaction effect, such that citizens' legitimacy beliefs are influenced by the legitimacy views of those around them. This effect persisted even when demographic, regional, and individual-level variables were controlled.This thesis concludes that procedural justice is more predictive of post-conflict institutional legitimacy than instrumental outcomes. Further, the relationship appears to operat...

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Identifying sources of democratic legitimacy: A multilevel analysis

Cited by 74 publications

References 37 publications

Arabs Want Democracy, but What Kind?

Arabs Want Democracy, but What Kind?

How Democracy Works : Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies

Rebuilding institutional legitimacy in post-conflict societies: a case study of Nepal

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