Elite Commitments to Democracy: Experimental Evidence from Norway

• In Event: Elites in Democracies and Autocracies

Abstract

How committed are elites in democracies to "democracy" as a political norm and principle, and to what degree are these norms conditional on norm-following among peers and elites, as well as voter preferences? While a considerable literature investigates voters' attitudes towards democratic violations (by elites) in various forms and contexts, we know much less about the preferences of political elites. We explore this in the context of Norway, a persistently stable democracy where both elites and citizens are commonly assumed to be highly committed to democratic norms. We focus on party politicians, surveying all national, regional and local representatives, a selection of non-elected candidates, as well as party officials. We survey elites using a standard questionnaire and two different experiments to adjudicate their commitment to democratic principles and practices. We assess whether commitments to democracy are conditional on the preferences and behavior of party leaders, peers and voters, and to what extent the Norwegian political elite is willing to serve as "gate-keepers'' by hindering non-democratic party colleagues from advancing within their respective parties.

Authors

• Sirianne Dahlum, University of Oslo

• Tore Wig, University of Oslo

• Daniel A N Goldstein, University of Oslo

• Kaja Sparre Bakke