Reassessing the Effect of Economic Conditions on Support for Democracy: Evidence from the 2009 - 2013 Romanian Election Study Panel
29 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2014 Last revised: 5 Sep 2014
Date Written: August 24, 2014
Abstract
Placed within the framework of Easton's model of support for the political system, we analyze the relationship between individual perceptions of economic conditions and different dimensions of support for democracy (from specific, to middle-range, and to diffuse support). While this is an often-researched topic, we believe that the current economic crisis, one of the most important in several decades, requires a new look at the effects of economic crises on support for democracy. Using panel data covering the period from November 2009 to January 2013 we are able to focus our analysis on identifying the effects of the global economic crisis on support for democracy in Romania, a fragile and still unconsolidated democracy both at the institutional and at the individual level. By estimating a series of fixed effects regression models we are able to show that both the economic crisis and evaluations of the economic performance in the past (retrospective sociotropic) do have significant effects on those components of support for democracy that combine elements of diffuse and specific support, but not on the most diffuse forms of support. According to our results, while the economic crisis did have some negative effects on middle-range forms of support for democracy, diffuse support for democracy was least affected by the current economic crisis in Romania.
Keywords: democracy support, economic performance, political trust, economic crisis, panel data
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