Some skeptics have asked whether ordinary people possess an understanding of democracy that allows them to evaluate it as a form of government. Our research yields three generalizations about popular understanding of democracy. First, even in new democracies, most people can offer a definition of democracy in their own words. Second, most people think of democracy in terms of the freedoms, liberties, and rights that it conveys, rather than institutional elements or social benefits. Third, the breadth of these sentiments suggests that the democratic ideal has broadly spread throughout the world, and its freedoms and liberties are the main source of its popular appeal.
About the Authors
Russell J. Dalton
Russell J. Dalton is professor of political science at the University of California–Irvine and author of The Good Citizen: How the Young Are Reshaping American Politics (2007).
Efforts to do comparative research on political attitudes have been complicated by varying understandings of “democracy.” The Afrobarometer is exploring new techniques to overcome this difficulty.
