People consistently view elections and civil liberties as key components of democracy

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chu, Jonathan A.; Williamson, Scott; Yeung, Eddy S. F.
• 署名单位: National University of Singapore; University of Oxford; University of Oxford; Emory University
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10370
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adp1274
• 发表日期: 2024-10-18
• 页码: 291-296
• 关键词: stealth democracy; conceptualizations; PARTICIPATION; conceptions; preferences; populist; support

摘要

How do people around the world define democracy? Answering this question is critical as countries face democratic backsliding and authoritarian governments promote alternative notions of democracy. Indeed, some scholars argue that people from different backgrounds understand democracy differently. By contrast, we discovered very consistent views about what constitutes a democratic country from conjoint survey experiments conducted in Egypt, India, Italy, Japan, Thailand, and the United States. Across countries (N = 6150) and diverse subgroups within countries, people similarly emphasized free and fair elections and civil liberties as being the key determinants of democracy. Countries that produce desirable social and economic outcomes are also considered more democratic, but these and other factors exert a smaller and less consistent effect than elections and civil liberties.