The quality of government determinants of support for democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID12705397
AuthorsFrida Boräng (0000-0002-6164-5334, Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden, corresponding author), Marina Nistotskaya (0000-0002-7747-7662, Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden), Georgios Xezonakis (0000-0002-1138-325X, Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden)
Year2017
Volume17
Issue1-2
Publication date2017-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1472-3891 • E-ISSN: 1479-1854
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pa.1643
OpenAlexW2588285167
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited53

This paper argues that in addition to “what democracies do,” “how democracies do it” produces an independent source of support for democracy. We argue that a high procedural quality of bureaucracy may promote support for democracy by diminishing the likelihood of the occurrence of cognitive dissonance between democracy as an ideal and the experienced. Furthermore, we expect the beneficial impact of a higher quality of government (QoG) to be more visible in younger democracies. We subject this claim to a multilevel empirical analysis with large n and N and across a considerable time span. The analysis reveals that higher QoG is linked with higher levels of diffuse support, and that this effect is stronger in younger democracies. The data are less supportive with respect to the positive impact of QoG on specific support, calling for further research into the matter

Bureaucracy · Cognitive dissonance · Democracy · Government (linguistics · Ideal (ethics · Multilevel model · Political science · Politics · Quality (philosophy · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks · Social Psychology

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