Beliefs About Democracy & Patterns of Political Behavior in Africa & Middle East

• In Event: Contrasting Expected and Actual Political Behavior in Africa and the Middle East

Abstract

Popular support for democracy in Africa and the Middle East is strong, but what do people mean when they say they “support democracy”? According to data from the Afro and Arab Barometers, Africans and Arabs more frequently identified democracy as a system for distributing material goods (jobs, basic necessities, monetary assistance) than as a system of government defined by multiple parties, an independent legislature, or freedom of expression. In this paper, we ask two questions: first, what are the predictors of belief in democracy-as-welfare as opposed to democracy-as-procedure? Second, are these beliefs related to political behavior? Using the most recent rounds of the Afro and Arab Barometers, we conduct multi-level logistic analysis to identify individual- and country-level predictors of individuals’ understandings of democracy. We find that, in Africa, belief in democracy as welfare is more common among the poor, women, rural-dwellers, the less educated, and those who live in more democratic countries. These beliefs have important implications for political behavior: those who understand democracy-as-welfare are less likely to vote, contact officials, or attend community meetings. More than any other form of government, a functioning democracy requires the support and participation of its citizens. These findings illustrate the importance of unpacking what people mean when they say they support “democracy,” and show that these beliefs are linked to behavior. In an era of democratic erosion, these findings are also consequential in broader comparative perspective.

Authors

• Erin Accampo Hern, Syracuse University

• Yael Zeira, Syracuse University