Introduction: Democracy—the European Verdict

Ferrín, Mónica; Kriesi, Hanspeter

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198766902.003.0001

Cited by 38 publications

(64 citation statements)

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“…This finding is consequential for comparative democracy research, in which it is standard practice to make such assumptions. 6 Our study also offers an important theoretical refinement of arguments made in earlier research on legacy effects in new democracies. That is, we draw on evidence that even a distant legacy establishes pressures to reaffirm democratic values and discredit authoritarian ones.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries

et al. 2020

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Conventional wisdom dictates that the more citizens lean towards either end of the ideological spectrum, the lower their support for democracy. The main model pitted against this "rigidity-of-the-extremes model" is the "rigidity-of-the-right model". This model assumes that rightist citizens are less supportive. This study proposes and empirically demonstrates the validity of an alternative model, which we call "the authoritarian legacy model". This model predicts that whether leftist or rightist citizens are less supportive of democracy depends on countries' experience with left-or right-authoritarianism. To evaluate its validity, we present a systematic comparative investigation of the relation between citizens' ideological and democratic beliefs, using European and World Values Survey data from 38 European countries (N = 105,495; 1994-2008). In line with this model, our analyses demonstrate that democratic support is lowest among leftist citizens in former leftauthoritarian countries and among rightist citizens in former right-authoritarian countries. We find that this relation persists even among generations that grew up after authoritarian rule. These findings suggest that traditional ideological rigidity models are unsuitable for the study of citizens' democratic beliefs.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries

et al. 2020

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“…The dimension of representation should ensure that citizens’ preferences are brought into the governing bodies (Przeworski et al ., 1999). It may regard the ‘subjects of representation’ (who should get represented) or the ‘mechanisms of representation’ (majority vs. proportional representation) (see Ferrin and Kriesi, 2016). The latter is a form of representation regarding the ‘electoral rules’, while the former a form of representation as ‘inclusiveness’, measured in this analysis using an item capturing the extent to which the rights of minorities are protected 8 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How citizens evaluate democracy: an assessment using the European Social Survey

Quaranta

2017

Eur. Pol. Sci. Rev.

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How do citizens evaluate democracy? Previous literature trying to address this question has often relied on single indicators to assess citizens' assessment of democracy. This article contributes to this debate by using multiple indicators measuring different attributes to find a summary measure of citizens' evaluations of democracy. Using the special module of the sixth round of the European Social Survey 'Europeans' understandings and evaluations of democracy' and applying Bayesian factor analysis with country random effects, this article tests whether multiple indicators form an underlying trait measuring citizens' evaluations of democracy. It finds the scores of this measure at the individual and country levels and validates this measure against other measures built at the system level, including the 'satisfaction with democracy' indicator, also illustrating its functioning as a dependent and an independent variable.

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“…Expectations are thus a normative concept; they are not about a judgement of what democracy ‘has done for me lately’, but about what a democracy ‘should do for me in general’ . Several authors have analysed democratic expectations, and have found that these normative ideals differ across citizen groups (Ferrín and Kriesi ; Schedler and Sarsfield ). More precisely, Ferrín and Kriesi (: 90ff.)…”

Section: Explaining Citizens’ Expectations Of Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Ferrín and Kriesi (: 10) use the same definition, but prefer the term “views of democracy” rather than “expectations”. …”

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confidence: 99%

The Making of Democratic Citizens: How Regime‐Specific Socialization Shapes Europeans’ Expectations of Democracy

Heyne

2018

Swiss Political Sci Review

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When analysing support for democracy, researchers tend to assume that 'democracy' is a concept that travels across countries. This paper argues that democracy is not the same thing for every citizen, because collective and individual socialization experiences strongly shape the criteria citizens expect a democracy to fulfil. Based on the literature on varieties of democracy, I suppose that individual expectations of democracy are influenced by regime-specific socialization, and depend on the democratic history, authoritarian legacies, and the prevalent democratic model. Due to socialization and democratic learning, individuals acquire democratic preferences and value those dimensions more which they experience in their own democracy. Using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Democracy Barometer, I test how the national democratic context in 26 European democracies influences these individual democratic ideals. I find evidence for both socialization and participation effects of the democratic context on citizens' democratic expectations.

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Introduction: Democracy—the European Verdict

Cited by 38 publications

References 0 publications

Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries

Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries

How citizens evaluate democracy: an assessment using the European Social Survey

The Making of Democratic Citizens: How Regime‐Specific Socialization Shapes Europeans’ Expectations of Democracy

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