(iPoster) Peacekeeping Operations and Citizens’ Attitudes towards Democracy

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Participation and Representation & Democracy and Autocracy II
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Democracy and Autocracy II

Abstract

How do peacekeeping operations affect citizens’ attitudes towards democracy? The literature on military intervention and peacekeeping operations (PKO) examines the extent to which they promote democracy. Previous research has found positive effects of PKOs on political openness and helping transitions to democracy. Still, overall, there is skepticism about how those measures impact the quality of democracy itself. The relationship between PKOs and democracy might be better understood by focusing on citizens’ attitudes towards democracy instead of indicators such as the quality of democracy and regime type. By examining citizens’ level of satisfaction with democracy (SWD), it is possible to observe whether PKOs are related to democracy in ways not previously explored when analysis uses the indicators previously studied. PKOs affect local populations, granting them better opportunities to exercise civil and political rights and safeguarding electoral processes. Considering this, I theorize that military peacekeeping has a positive effect on SWD among citizens. Using Afrobarometer and Geo PKO data, I employ multilevel ordered logistic regression to examine the effect of PKO deployment across the African continent on citizens’ SWD at the sub-national level. The empirical analysis in this paper demonstrates that exposure to PKOs increases citizens’ positive attitudes toward democracy when their operations include election-related activities as part of their mandates.

Author

• Eduardo Burkle, University of Georgia