scholarly journals Social Capital and Quality of Democracy Revisited in a Comparative Perspective

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conceição Pequito Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Accountability ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy

To what extent, if any, does social capital contribute to the democratic formation of citizens´attitudes? It is a major influence among several others or just a minor one when it comes to forming political attitudes? This paper provides an empirical answer to these questions, drawing from the 2010 European Social Survey questionnaire. Its first section includes a discussion about the quality of democarcy in the culturalist approach of Political Science. The following section addresses the operationalization of the concept of quality of democracy and its main dimensions, with particular attention to social accountability. It then seeks to relate the concepts of social accountability as a pivotal dimension of the quality of democracy and social capital as formulated By Robert Putman. We used a multivariate regression analysis to test our hypotheses, which focus on whether the components that make up social capital have a differentiated impact on the formation of political attitudes, i.e. on the degree of satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions in old and new democracies.Key-Words: Quality of Democracy, Social Accountability, Social Capital, Satisfaction with Democracy, Trust in Political Institutions.

Satisfaction with democracy and social capital in Greece

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Daskalopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
European Values ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Continuum

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of social capital contribute to the satisfaction with democracy (SWD) in Greece. Understanding the relationship between different variants of social capital and SWD allows one to situate the Greek democracy in the continuum of democracy types, from primary to modern. Design/methodology/approach The study uses microdata extracted from the European Values Surveys of 2002-2010 and multivariate regression analysis. Findings The results are compatible with a conception of the Greek political organization as a civil virtue democracy. A change in the nature of the relationship is observed after the recent economic crisis in the country. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the empirical knowledge regarding the relationship between different variants of social capital and SWD. Originality/value Using a typology approach, the micro-relationship between democracy and social capital is analyzed as embedded in a continuum of different democracy types. In addition, this is the first study that uses microdata to analyze the effect of social capital upon SWD in Greece. The results of the study provide valuable understanding of the social and institutional arrangements that might sustain Greece’s efforts to meet its overall developmental challenges.

scholarly journals Who wants technocrats? A comparative study of citizen attitudes in nine young and consolidated democracies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihail Chiru ◽  
Zsolt Enyedi
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Civic Activism ◽  
Citizen Attitudes ◽  
Corruption Perception ◽  
Comparative Survey

Technocratic cabinets and expert, non-political ministers appointed in otherwise partisan cabinets have become a common reality in recent decades in young and older democracies, but we know little about how citizens see this change and what values, perceptions and experiences drive their attitudes towards technocratic government. The article explores the latter topic by drawing on recent comparative survey data from 9 countries, both young and consolidated democracies from Europe and Latin America. Two individual-level characteristics trigger particularly strong support for the replacement of politicians with experts: low political efficacy and authoritarian values. They are complemented by a third, somewhat weaker factor: corruption perception. At macro level, technocracy appeals to citizens of countries where the quality of democracy is deficient and where technocratic cabinets are part of historical legacy. Surprisingly, civic activism, and partially satisfaction with democracy, enhance technocratic orientation, indicating such attitudes are not expressions of alienation or depoliticization.

scholarly journals Who wants technocrats? A comparative study of citizen attitudes in nine young and consolidated democracies

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110183
Author(s):  
Mihail Chiru ◽  
Zsolt Enyedi
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Civic Activism ◽  
Citizen Attitudes ◽  
Corruption Perception ◽  
Comparative Survey

Technocratic cabinets and expert, non-political ministers appointed in otherwise partisan cabinets have become a common reality in recent decades in young and older democracies, but we know little about how citizens see this change and what values, perceptions and experiences drive their attitudes towards technocratic government. The article explores the latter topic by drawing on recent comparative survey data from nine countries, both young and consolidated democracies from Europe and Latin America. Two individual-level characteristics trigger particularly strong support for the replacement of politicians with experts: low political efficacy and authoritarian values. They are complemented by a third, somewhat weaker factor: corruption perception. At the macro level, technocracy appeals to citizens of countries where the quality of democracy is deficient and where technocratic cabinets are a part of historical legacy. Surprisingly, civic activism and, partially, satisfaction with democracy enhance technocratic orientation, indicating such attitudes are not expressions of alienation or depoliticisation.

scholarly journals The political representation cycle and citizen satisfaction with the Democratic process

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joshua Norberg
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One

This project investigates how citizens in advanced industrial democracies evaluate their democratic institutions. Previous literature has focused on the role of either individual characteristics - personal economic conditions, whether a voter identifies with a winning political party, etc. - or institutional structures to determine what drives the level of satisfaction with democracy in a country. The former explanations are unable to account for systematic differences across countries, while the latter explanations are unable to account for rapid year-to-year shifts in satisfaction or the variation in satisfaction within system types. Instead, I argue that electorates across all types of democracies primarily desire one thing: political representation. In this dissertation I argue that the quality of the connections between voters and political parties, on the one hand, and voters and the government on the other, is crucial to understanding why some individuals are more satisfied with their political institutions than others. I find that as the quality of the connection between a voter and their party decreases, the likelihood that they will be satisfied with their democracy decreases accordingly. Moreover, I find that the quality of this connection conditions the positive effect of selecting a winning political party. Finally, I find that the way a government terminates - whether by regular elections or conflict between government parties - has a strong impact on the level of satisfaction in a country.

scholarly journals Introduction: (De)democratisation in Slovenia and Montenegro: Comparing the Quality of Democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-592
Author(s):  
Olivera Komar ◽  
Meta Novak
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Small Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Internal And External Factors

AbstractThis paper creates a framework for the comparison of two similar and yet different democratisation cases – Slovenia and Montenegro. The two countries have obvious similarities: their geography and small population, as well as their common socialist Yugoslav heritage and common aspirations to join international organisations, most importantly the European Union. However, while Slovenia went through the democratisation process rather smoothly, Montenegro took the longer road, struggling for more than a decade to regain its independence and complete its transition. We take into account different internal and external factors in these two cases such as the year of independence and of joining NATO, the political and electoral system, ethnic homogeneity, the viability of civil society, EU integration status, economic development and the presence of war in each territory in order to identify and describe those factors that contributed to the success of democratisation in different areas: the party system, the interest groups system, the defence system, Europeanisation and social policy. We find that the democratisation process in these countries produced different results in terms of quality. Various objective measures of the quality of democracy score Slovenia higher compared to Montenegro, while public opinion data shows, in general, greater satisfaction with the political system and greater trust in political institutions in Montenegro than in Slovenia.

Taking the multidimensionality of democracy seriously: institutional patterns and the quality of democracy

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Bernauer ◽  
Marc Bühlmann ◽  
Adrian Vatter ◽  
Micha Germann
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Democratic Quality ◽  
The Relationship

Democracies come in all shapes and sizes. Which configuration of political institutions produces the highest democratic quality is a notorious debate. The lineup of contenders includes ‘consensus’, ‘Westminster’, and ‘centripetal’ democracy. A trend in the evaluation of the relationship between empirical patterns of democracy and its quality is that the multidimensional nature of both concepts is increasingly taken into account. This article tests the assertion that certain centripetal configurations of proportionality in party systems and government, and unitarism in the remaining state structure, might outperform all other alternatives both in terms of inclusiveness and effectiveness. Analyzing 33 democracies, the results of interactive regression models only partially support this claim. Proportional–unitary democracies have the best track record in terms of representation, but there are little differences in participation, transparency, and government capability compared with other models.

Education, democratic governance, and satisfaction with democracy: Multilevel evidence from Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212095287
Author(s):  
Alejandro Monsiváis-Carrillo ◽  
Gabriela Cantú Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Latin American Countries

It is usually recognized that satisfaction with democracy is enhanced by clean governments and fair democratic procedures. However, under certain circumstances, some citizens might appreciate the quality of democratic governance more than others. Building on research that underlines the accuracy and norm-inducing functions of education, we argue that the quality of democratic governance conditions the relationship between education and satisfaction with democracy. Analyzing data from 18 Latin American countries, we find that higher-educated citizens are less satisfied with the regime than the less-educated. Among the highly educated, nonetheless, the least satisfied are those who were asked by public officials to pay bribes. Highly educated individuals are more satisfied with the regime if their country’s quality of democracy is robust rather than weak. At the lowest level of education, the conditional influence of being asked for a bribe or the quality of democracy is absent.

scholarly journals Multiple Faces of Democrats: Satisfaction with Democracy and Support for Democracy in Malawi

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-37
Author(s):  
Michael Chasukwa
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Democracy And Education ◽  
Critical Citizens

Matters of satisfaction with and support for democracy have been at the centre of discussion regarding the survival and quality of democracy in Africa since the early 1990s. While the dominant discourse claims that support for democracy keeps on increasing with time, African countries have somewhat deviated from this path. Thus, African countries have had decreasing levels of satisfaction with democracy and support for democracy since the third democratisation wave of the early 1990s. This article takes interest in the trends of satisfaction with democracy and support for democracy with the objective of explaining factors contributing to the undermining of the survival and quality of democracy. A mixed methods research design, using Afrobarometer survey data for four rounds and secondary data, is deployed to address issues pertaining to critical and satisfied democrats as raised in the article. The article finds that satisfaction with democracy and education are significant predictors of support for democracy in Malawi. It also establishes that critical democrats fight to make democracy work, albeit for their economic survival. The article argues that the survival and quality of democracy in Malawi is compromised by elite critical citizens who show commitment to democracy as a matter of principle when they are instrumentalists.

Happiness in developing countries: can government competitiveness substitute for formal institutions?

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232110004
Author(s):  
Kee Hoon Chung ◽  
Tobin Im
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Government Capacity

Accumulated empirical studies have examined how various qualities of governance affect happiness across countries. This study contributes to prior studies by testing a hypothesis that when developing countries lack effective legal and political institutions, capable government may substitute for their functions to promote happiness via effective policy planning and implementation. To test this expectation, this study compares which qualities of governance—government capacity, democracy, and legal system—matter for happiness in developing countries. While prior studies have overwhelmingly relied on the World Governance Indicator to measure government capacity, we introduce a new measure—government competitiveness—developed by the Center for Government Competitiveness, which overcomes some criticisms. Using this indicator, we employ pooled Ordinary Least Square and two-way fixed effects panel data analysis for 80 non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries spanning the years 2015–2018. As a robustness test, we conduct instrumental variable estimation, using geography as an instrument for government competitiveness. Our analysis shows that government competitiveness has a positive and statistically robust effect on happiness across all estimations, while quality of democracy and judicial independence display ambivalent effects. Our instrumental variable results suggest that judicial independence and quality of democracy display a substituting and complementing relationship with government competitiveness, respectively. Points for practitioners This article suggests that institutional arrangements for promoting happiness in developing countries differ from developed countries. In developing countries: (1) government competitiveness may play a more important role than judicial and democratic institutions; and (2) government competitiveness may complement democratic institutions but substitute for judicial institutions. For developing countries facing resource constraints, this article recommends policymakers to prioritize fostering competitive government for promoting happiness.

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