Public Opinion Limits to Democratic Good Governance: Case of East-Central Europe

• In Event: Democratic Ceilings: The Curious Stability of Low-Quality Democracies

Abstract

The high prevalence of corruption is an important reason for the democratic ceiling experienced by much of post-communist Eastern Europe. While anti-corruption efforts are crucial in addressing this significant obstacle to effective rule-of-law and liberal democracy, in this paper we argue that anti-corruption efforts pose their own risks to other aspects of rule-of-law. We predict that corruption concerns will drive public support for questionable anti-corruption methods, and that both corruption perceptions and anti-corruption methods will be biased along partisan lines. Combining these two hypotheses, we predict a partisan bias in support for questionable anti-corruption methods. We test and confirm our theoretical predictions using data from Romania based on original surveys and experimental and quasi-experimental research designs to test our theoretical expectations. Taken together, these findings suggest that the public opinion dynamics surrounding corruption and anti-corruption measures can pose significant risks to key aspects of liberal democracy.

Authors

• Marko Klasnja, Georgetown University

• Grigore Pop-Eleches, Princeton University