Evaluating Public Support for Democracy

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

There is a large literature on evaluating public support for democracy. Yet most of this literature fails to account for the complexity of democracy as a concept nor whether individual's behavior diverges from their attitudes towards democracy. In this panel, authors present new research that evaluates the disconnect between widespread support for democracy and high levels of support for illiberal or autocratic candidates. Three papers use conjoint experiments to experimentally assess specific factors which lead individuals to become more supportive of undemocratic candidates or political institutions. The fourth paper also uses experimental methods to determine how tit-for-tat dynamics generate support for undemocratic behavior.

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Individual Presentations

• Public Tolerance for Anti-democratic Behavior - Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University; Eli Gavin Rau, Tecnológico de Monterrey; Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Vanderbilt University

• Clean Governance and Popular Support for Democracy - Darren G. Hawkins, Brigham Young University; Darin Self, Brigham Young University

• When to Polarize and When to Talk Trash: Backsliding Leaders and Public Opinion - Susan C. Stokes, University of Chicago

• When Is Anti-democratic Behavior Seen as Appropriate? - Erica Susanne De Bruin, Hamilton College; Calvert W. Jones, University of Maryland, College Park

Chair

• Sharan Grewal American University

Discussant

• Suthan Krishnarajan Aarhus University