The value of liberal democracy : assessing citizens' commitment to democratic principles
Ferrer, Sergi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Hernández, Enrique (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Prada, Enrique (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Tomic, Damjan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)

Imprint:	Wiley-Blackwell, 2025
Description:	21 pàg.
Abstract:	Recent studies suggest that citizens are unlikely to trade off free elections for other desirable outcomes, such as economic growth. However, while free elections are central to democracies, today democracy is not often undermined by abolishing elections. Our study shifts the focus to citizens' willingness to trade off the more granular democratic principles frequently eroded in backsliding processes - such as judicial independence, media freedom or horizontal accountability - for higher incomes. Through a seven-country conjoint experiment, we analyse how citizens prioritize among these principles and estimate their 'willingness to pay' - or the additional income needed to persuade citizens to give these principles up. We find that while citizens do not relinquish free elections easily, they are more open to forgo liberal principles undermined in backsliding processes, especially when these principles are eroded gradually, one at a time. These findings help explain why democratic backsliding may be often tolerated by citizens.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2022-137516NA-I00
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Note:	Altres ajuts: Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) ; European Union (ERC Starting Grant 101042292 DEMOTRADEOFF)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Conjoint experiment ; Democracy ; Support ; Willingness to pay ; SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
Published in:	European journal of political research, Vol. 64, núm. 4 (2025) , p.2018-2038, ISSN 1475-6765

DOI: 10.1111/1475-6765.70021

21 p, 801.4 KB

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