Economic Performance and Regime Legitimacy in Post-Communist Bulgaria

Bibliographic Data

ID6353560
AuthorsRossen Vassilev (The Ohio State University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume24
Issue2
Pages113-121
Publication date2004-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3268 • E-ISSN: 1467-9256
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9256.2004.00212.x
OpenAlexW2076722299
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited9

It is commonly assumed that socio-economic conditions strongly influence political attitudes. Since democratic rule is based on the consent of the ruled, a secure and stable democracy cannot be established and maintained without broad-based popular endorsement, which is especially important for nascent post-communist democracies. Painful economic difficulties may engender deep anti-system sentiments at the mass level, encouraging anti-regime activism at the elite level. From this perspective, democratic legitimacy is a function of regime performance. But the Bulgarian evidence fails to validate the hypothesis that system legitimacy depends on regime effectiveness or that socio-economic conditions determine mass-level political attitudes. In spite of the economic fiasco, Bulgaria's democratic regime remains capable of commanding popular support. While the economic performance deficit of catastrophic proportions has become a source of widespread popular dissatisfaction threatening regime stability, it has not led to democratic backsliding or collapse

Bulgarian · Communism · Communist state · Democracy · Development economics · Economic system · Economics · Elite · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Religion and Society Interactions · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub