New Approaches to Attitudes toward Democracy and Its Institutions

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Democracy is in peril. Scholars of comparative politics agree that a significant number of countries around the world are facing serious threats of democratic backsliding. Competitive authoritarianism is on the rise, which implies that civil liberties are eroding and flawed elections are becoming increasingly common. Furthermore, nationalistic, populist, and illiberal political parties are gaining more support at the ballot box with each election. Yet, democratic backsliding is not only due to eroding democratic institutions or increased support for illiberal platforms. Citizens are also increasingly becoming distrustful of key democratic institutions. Almost all regions of the world have seen a decline in the levels of trust citizens have expressed for the Government, Congress, the Judiciary, the Presidency, and other key state institutions. This decline has been coupled with growing dissatisfaction with democracy and a rejection of democratic norms.

In this panel, we discuss a set of papers that examine mass attitudes toward democracy and state institutions. Among other factors, the existing literature has emphasized economic and policy performance, crime victimization, corruption, socialization, and individual traits as key predictors of attitudes toward democracy and its institutions. The papers in this panel seek to shed light on overlooked drivers of trust in institutions and attitudes toward democracy.

The first paper examines how direct and vicarious experiences of police violence in Brazil affect political trust and satisfaction with democracy. Utilizing a vignette survey experiment and analysis of LAPOP survey data, the study reveals that both types of police violence experiences significantly reduce trust in political institutions and satisfaction with democracy.

The second paper examines how individuals' exposure to domestic military activities influences their support for and satisfaction with democracy. Using an original database of instances of militarization in Mexico since 2010 and data from an original online survey (N=10,000) in Mexico, the project suggests that the level of personal proximity to military activities, as well as the valence of those personal experiences, affects citizens' support for and satisfaction with democratic governance

The third paper investigates the impact of concession speeches on trust in government, exploring how elites’ post-election rhetoric, specifically concession versus non-concession speeches, influences citizens' trust in government. Utilizing a novel survey experiment conducted in the United States, Hungary, and the Netherlands during key elections, the study reveals that non-concession speeches significantly diminish trust in government across these countries, particularly among supporters of incumbent parties.

A fourth paper uses a mixed-method approach to analyze difference democratic conceptions in the United States.

A final paper uses a survey experiment implemented with a sample of Republicans and Independents in the United States to understand perceptions of prosecutions of Donald Trump.

In doing so, this panel advances the scholarship on public opinion, drivers of system legitimacy, and mass attitudes toward democratic and state institutions. Underlying all the papers are concerns about changes in democratic norms and the implications for democratic backsliding.

Sub Unit

• Division 37: Public Opinion

Individual Presentations

• The Effect of Police Violence on Political Trust and Satisfaction with Democracy - Vitória Sgorlon, Stony Brook University; Ignacio Urbina, Stony Brook University

• How Personal Exposure to Military Activities Affects Democratic Attitudes? - Margaret Frost, University of Rhode Island

• Rhetoric and Losers: The Comparative Impact of Concession on Trust in Government - Abigail Woodfield, Stonybrook University; Quinn Mecham, Brigham Young University

• Mapping the Spectrum of Democratic Conceptions in the United States - Seongjoon Ahn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Running against the Law: Framings of Trump’s Prosecution and Democratic Beliefs - Daniel Markovits, Columbia University; Andrew O'Donohue, Harvard University

Chair

• Eroll Kuhn Sam Houston State University

Discussants

• Margaret Frost University of Rhode Island

• Ignacio Urbina Stony Brook University