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Synopsis 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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