RSVP for CGPC Seminar - What Makes a Democracy? Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in Eight Countries

Scholars are paying increasing attention to how citizens understand democracy. Existing studies have shown that ordinary people associate various meanings to democracy, and that popular understandings of democracy may have important implications for democratic legitimacy. However, while the multi-dimensionality of public understandings of democracy is well-established in empirical research, the structure of these attitudes is less clear. Given that ideas of democracy are typically complex and include potentially contrasting aspirations, how do citizens prioritize such goals? This talk addresses this question with a conjoint experiment implemented in eight Asian countries. Respondents are asked to evaluate various types of regimes that vary in their electoral, liberal, participatory, social, representative and deliberative institutions. Results allow us to paint an accurate picture of how each dimension of the concept of democracy is weighted vis-à-vis all others when multiple features are jointly assessed.