An important issue arising from these contemporary developments concerns the state of public support for the principles and practices of democratic governance. An accumulating body of survey evidence suggests that in recent decades citizens in many established democracies have grown more distrustful of politicians, doubtful about governance institutions, and disillusioned with leaders in the public sector, although simultaneously endorsing democratic ideals. A burgeoning body of cross-national data elsewhere -- in Latin America as well as Post-Communist states, in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Asia and the Middle East – suggests that around the globe many citizens express similar sentiments.  

This phenomenon represents the rise of ‘critical citizens’, conceptualized here, most simply, as those who simultaneously aspire to democracy as the ideal form of government yet are skeptical about the way that democratic institutions work in practice. Far from a small minority, as we shall demonstrate, many people worldwide fall into this category.

This book integrates disparate findings about this phenomenon into a comprehensive and generalizable theoretical framework providing insights into the causes and consequences of the rise of critical citizens.

The first section of the book is essentially diagnostic: Over time, have democratic aspirations strengthened and has the public become simultaneously more skeptical about the performance of political institutions? If so, who are the critical citizens? And how does this pattern vary cross-nationally in global regions and under different types of regimes, including authoritarian states? A considerable body of research has now accumulated about the dynamics of political support in established democracies and post-industrial societies, especially in the United States, but less is known about this pattern across a wide range of emerging democracies and developing countries.

The second central concern is analytical: how do we explain the critical citizen syndrome? Numerous commentators have observed the erosion of trust in democratic institutions and officials, but there remains little consensus about the underlying reasons for this development.  We examine a wide range of empirical data, using multilevel models, to analyze how far the growth of critical citizens can be explained by the evolution of cultural values, declining standards of probity in public life, a failure of governance performance to meet public expectations, and problems of institutional design.

The last question concerns impact: what are the systematic consequences of this phenomenon for political behavior, for the contemporary challenges of governance, and for regime stability? Why does this development matter? The conclusion summarizes the major findings about critical citizens and considers their broader theoretical and public policy implications.

Building upon an earlier volume, this study develops a comprehensive theory and tests it systematically using multilevel analysis of survey and aggregate evidence in many societies worldwide. The book builds upon  Pippa Norris. (Ed).  1999. Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Governance. New York: Oxford University Press

This book will prove invaluable for those interested in comparative politics, public opinion, political culture, political behavior, democratic governance, political psychology, comparative sociology, cross-national survey analysis, and the dynamics of the democratisation process.
 

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