Document Abstract
Published:
2007
Political rights versus public goods: uncovering the determinants of satisfaction with democracy in Africa
What determines the level of satisfaction with democracy?
This paper seeks to explain the divergence between preference for democracy and satisfaction with its outcome. It focuses on the way political fragmentation, a distinguishing characteristic of democratic regimes, interacts with intrinsic versus instrumental understanding of democracy, leading to different levels of satisfaction with democratic outcomes.
In its intrinsic understanding, democracy is a system characterised by many normatively appealing characteristics like individual freedom, civil liberties and electoral competition. On the other hand, democracy is also thought by many citizens and academics alike to have instrumental value. In this context democracy is a mechanism leading to increased better provision of public goods and enhanced public services based on the incentive structure linking citizen approval with tenure in office.
Political fractionalisation can be both a blessing and a burden depending on one's point of view: a blessing for the liberalist with intrinsic understanding, in that a highly fractionalised government means lively competition and intra-party negotiation. But it is a burden for the instrumentalist, in that fractionalisation can lead to policy gridlock. As a result, in the presence of political fragmentation, divergent understandings of democracy lead to varying levels of satisfaction.
The authors use public opinion data in eighteen African countries to demonstrate that:
In its intrinsic understanding, democracy is a system characterised by many normatively appealing characteristics like individual freedom, civil liberties and electoral competition. On the other hand, democracy is also thought by many citizens and academics alike to have instrumental value. In this context democracy is a mechanism leading to increased better provision of public goods and enhanced public services based on the incentive structure linking citizen approval with tenure in office.
Political fractionalisation can be both a blessing and a burden depending on one's point of view: a blessing for the liberalist with intrinsic understanding, in that a highly fractionalised government means lively competition and intra-party negotiation. But it is a burden for the instrumentalist, in that fractionalisation can lead to policy gridlock. As a result, in the presence of political fragmentation, divergent understandings of democracy lead to varying levels of satisfaction.
The authors use public opinion data in eighteen African countries to demonstrate that:
- citizens who value democracy instrumentally report lower levels of satisfaction when fractionalisation is high, i.e., when representation of many parties in government lead to high competition and intra-party negotiations
- citizens who value democracy intrinsically report higher levels of satisfaction when the fractionalisation is high
- more educated citizens tend to value democracy intrinsically, as opposed to instrumentally
- other potential indicators, such as wealth, age and gender, have no predictive power
