Why democrats abandon democracy: Evidence from four survey experiments

In several world regions, democracy is in retreat. This retreat is taking place amid growing polarization in many countries, and analysts are increasingly concerned with the role that deepening political divisions play in processes of democratic decline. This article investigates the relationship be...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Party politics 2022-05, Vol.28 (3), p.554-566
Main Authors: Fossati, Diego, Muhtadi, Burhanuddin, Warburton, Eve
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clientelism
Cues
Democracy
Experiments
Leadership
Partisanship
Party identification
Polarization
Political parties
Polls & surveys
Public opinion
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In several world regions, democracy is in retreat. This retreat is taking place amid growing polarization in many countries, and analysts are increasingly concerned with the role that deepening political divisions play in processes of democratic decline. This article investigates the relationship between partisan polarization and deteriorating public support for democratic institutions. It leverages the case of Indonesia, a major third-wave democracy now in the midst of a democratic regression. Indonesia’s political landscape has become more ideologically polarized in recent years, despite the strength of clientelist networks and low levels of party identification. Using four survey experiments, we find that Indonesians embrace illiberal interventions and abandon democratic institutions when exposed to party and leadership cues. These results suggest that political polarization may prompt citizens to abandon democratic norms even in democracies without strong partisan identities.
ISSN:1354-0688
1460-3683
DOI:10.1177/1354068821992488