Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
7-2018
Abstract
Despite its global rise in popularity, a significant number of people still oppose democracy. The present study evaluates three competing theories of opposition to democracy—developmentalist, culturalist, and elitist—using a series of multilevel regression models that combine individual- and country-level variables. Results of our statistical analyses suggest that (1) country-level indicators of social, political, and economic development are unrelated to individual support for democracy; (2) macro-cultural factors have mixed effects on individual support for democracy; and (3) individual income and education have strong effects on individual support for democracy, but this relationship is mediated by country-level economic development. Specifically, we find that, in relatively underdeveloped countries, high-income individuals are more likely to oppose democracy than low-income individuals. These results suggest that economic, social, and political development do not necessarily go together, most strongly supporting elitist approaches to studying opposition to democracy.
Keywords
Development, Democracy, Political attitudes, Elites, Multilevel modeling
Discipline
Political Science
Research Areas
Sociology
Publication
Sociological Perspectives
Volume
62
Issue
3
First Page
1
Last Page
21
ISSN
0731-1214
Publisher
SAGE Publications (UK and US)
Embargo Period
4-29-2021
Citation
GORMAN, Brandon, NAQVI, Ijlal, & KURZMAN, Charles.(2018). Who doesn’t want democracy? A multilevel analysis of elite and mass attitudes. Sociological Perspectives, 62(3), 1-21.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3303
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121418785626