Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- PART I INTRODUCTION
- PART II SYMPTOMS
- 4 Trends in the United States and Western Europe
- 5 Comparing Political Support around the World
- 6 Trends in Democratic Deficits
- PART III DIAGNOSIS
- PART IV PROGNOSIS
- 12 Conclusions and Implications
- Technical Appendix A Concepts and Measures
- Technical Appendix B Countries in the Pooled World Values Survey, 1981–2007
- Technical Appendix C Methods
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
6 - Trends in Democratic Deficits
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- PART I INTRODUCTION
- PART II SYMPTOMS
- 4 Trends in the United States and Western Europe
- 5 Comparing Political Support around the World
- 6 Trends in Democratic Deficits
- PART III DIAGNOSIS
- PART IV PROGNOSIS
- 12 Conclusions and Implications
- Technical Appendix A Concepts and Measures
- Technical Appendix B Countries in the Pooled World Values Survey, 1981–2007
- Technical Appendix C Methods
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The previous chapter established cross-national patterns in system support, but it did not examine trends or compare the size and distribution of the democratic deficit under a wide range of political conditions. This chapter starts by establishing longitudinal analysis of selected case studies to monitor if and when any changes occurred. The pooled World Values Survey 1981–2007 contains time-series survey data for a more restricted subset of eleven nations included in all five waves of the survey conducted over twenty-five years. This includes five states (Spain, South Africa, Mexico, South Korea, and Argentina) that have experienced transitions from diverse types of autocratic rule and the rapid consolidation of democratic regimes during this era. Mexico, Argentina, South Korea, and South Africa are also emerging market economies, characterized by moderate levels of per capita GDP. The effects of democratization on public opinion are examined by examining trends ‘before’ and ‘after’ the year when regime changed in these particular case studies, exemplified by the fall of the Argentinean military junta in 1983, the collapse of South African apartheid in 1994, and the end of the PRI's predominance in the 2000 Mexican presidential elections. The number of cases under comparison is admittedly limited, but nonetheless the results of the analysis serve to confirm the picture already familiar; during the last quarter century, no significant erosion of system support was detected from the indices of composite institutional confidence (with the notable exception of declining public confidence in parliaments), attitudes toward democratic governance and rejection of autocracy, or feelings of nationalism.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Democratic DeficitCritical Citizens Revisited, pp. 102 - 116Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011