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GINI DP 47: Support for Democracy in Cross-National Perspective: The Detrimental Effect of Economic Inequality

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Abstract

Using survey data and national statistics on 35 modern democracies, this research explores the relationship between economic and political conditions and support for democracy. As expected from modernization theory, support for democracy tends to be highest in countries with a high level of economic development. More importantly, however, I contribute a new finding that income inequality matters much more. Specifically, citizens from countries with relatively low levels of income inequality tend to be more likely than others to support democracy. I also find that household income is positively related to support for democracy in most countries, though it tends to have its strongest effect if economic development is high and income inequality is low. Finally, even after taking into account the level of economic development in one’s country, people from former Communist countries tends to have far less support for democracy than those from more established democracies.

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  • Robert Andersen, 2012. "GINI DP 47: Support for Democracy in Cross-National Perspective: The Detrimental Effect of Economic Inequality," GINI Discussion Papers 47, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:aia:ginidp:47
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    File URL: https://www1.feb.uva.nl/aias/DP47-Andersen.pdf
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    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12425 is not listed on IDEAS
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    7. Evans, Geoffrey & Whitefield, Stephen, 1995. "The Politics and Economics of Democratic Commitment: Support for Democracy in Transition Societies," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 485-514, October.
    8. Rose, Richard & Mishler, William T. E., 1994. "Mass Reaction to Regime Change in Eastern Europe: Polarization or Leaders and Laggards?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 159-182, April.
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    10. Robert Andersen & Anthony Heath, 2003. "Social identities and political cleavages: the role of political context," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 166(3), pages 301-327, October.
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    2. Anna S. Burger, 2015. "Extreme working hours in Western Europe and North America: A new aspect of polarization," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 92, European Institute, LSE.
    3. Geert Ten Dam & Anne Bert Dijkstra & Ineke Van der Veen & Anne Van Goethem, 2020. "What Do Adolescents Know about Citizenship? Measuring Student’s Knowledge of the Social and Political Aspects of Citizenship," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-24, December.
    4. Sajad Rahimian, 2021. "The Determinants of Democracy Revisited: An Instrumental Variable Bayesian Model Averaging Approach," Papers 2103.04255, arXiv.org.
    5. Schechtl, Manuel, 2025. "Rising Wealth Inequality and Democratic Backsliding across U.S. States," SocArXiv ax5b9_v1, Center for Open Science.
    6. Anna S. Burger, 2015. "Extreme Working Hours in Western Europe and North America: A New Aspect of Polarization," LIS Working papers 649, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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