A System Under Pressure
Democracy enjoys broad support in surveys. But how stable is support for democratic rights and procedures in the face of major societal challenges? New comparative survey experiments in six countries show that, in exceptional situations, citizens prioritize personal freedoms and alternative decision-making processes over democratic principles.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted researchers Christian Rauh, Heiko Giebler, Jan Paul Heisig, Johannes Gerschewski, and Jianghong Li to examine support for democracy in various countries. Precisely during such a crisis citizens’ commitment to democratic principles is put to a test. Even though many people consider democracy to be the form of government most worthy of protection, the authors wondered whether this fundamental support holds up when democratic principles clash with individual interests or other decision-making logics—such as during a pandemic, in the context of climate change, or during other societal crises. How resilient are democratic convictions really when citizens are confronted with conflicting goals?
Surveys in Germany, Japan, Poland, Spain, South Korea, and Hungary
The team surveyed 9,000 eligible voters in Germany, Japan, Poland, Spain, South Korea, and Hungary in November 2021. In two innovative survey experiments, respondents had to choose between different sets of measures and decision-making procedures. The results show that political measures restricting democratic rights—postponed elections, bans on demonstrations, and government control over the media—have little impact on citizens’ support for pandemic response packages. Measures that encroach on respondents’ private lives, on the other hand, are clearly rejected. When it comes to decision-making procedures, expert consultation ranks first by a wide margin, while parliamentary votes and cross-party consensus come in last—regardless of whether people are surveyed in the context of COVID-19, climate change, or “societal challenges” in general.
Cause for Concern
The results of this interdepartmental study conducted at the WZB provide cause for concern: The limited relative support for core democratic rights and decision-making procedures, especially in times of crisis, can spur a gradual erosion of the government’s democratic accountability, allowing non-democratically legitimized actors to gain influence, and creating opportunities for a lasting weakening of democratic mechanisms. The research emphasizes that one should not rest on the high general approval of abstract democratic ideals expressed in population surveys. Rather, it is important to understand how citizens view the complex, multidimensional trade-offs involved in the democratic governance of our societies.
13/8/26, kes