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- Title
The Impact of the Great Recession on Support for Democracy.
- Authors
Hoffmann-Lange, Ursula
- Abstract
Based on aggregate data, the essay investigates whether the Great Recession has had a negative effect on the consolidation of fragile democracies. It relies on three different datasets. A dataset with aggregate indicators for 187 independent countries is used to analyze the relationships among economic development, economic growth, the impact of the recession, and an index of democracy. A second dataset for thirty-eight countries that participated in the last two waves of the World Values Survey traces changes in support for democracy and relates them to type of political regime and impact of the recession. A third dataset for two consolidated (Sweden and Germany) and five new (Chile, South Korea, Poland, South Africa, and Turkey) democracies allows for the study of differences in political attitudes between the general population and parliamentarians. The results show that the recession has been deeper in democracies that are more economically developed than others and that decline in support for democracy has been more pronounced in fragile democracies. The comparison between parliamentarians and citizens reveals that support for democracy is very high and stable among parliamentarians, but much lower among citizens. It has been stable in six countries, but has declined sharply in South Africa.
- Subjects
RECESSIONS; DEMOCRACY; POLITICAL systems; FEDERAL government; POLITICAL doctrines
- Publication
Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 2015, Vol 11, Issue 1, p53
- ISSN
1815-7238
- Publication type
Article