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Critical citizens, democratic support and satisfaction in African democracies

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Doorenspleet, Renske (2012) Critical citizens, democratic support and satisfaction in African democracies. International Political Science Review, Vol.33 (No.3). pp. 279-300. doi:10.1177/0192512111431906

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0192512111431906

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Abstract

Worldwide, there is substantial popular support for the ideal of democracy but, on the other hand, there is considerable dissatisfaction with democracy within democracies. Democracies are inhabited by many so-called ‘dissatisfied democrats’: citizens who are strong supporters of the democratic ideal, but are unhappy with the way democracy is working in their country. It is not clear how to explain this phenomenon, but based on a review of the existing literature, two different approaches can be distinguished: an optimistic and a pessimistic one. Subsequently, this article investigates why some people are dissatisfied democrats while others are not in eight African democracies – Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa. The empirical evidence seems to support the complex mix of both the optimistic and pessimistic approaches: to be sure, dissatisfied democrats are critical citizens compared with dissatisfied non-democrats, but they are not more politically active than the rest of the population. Future studies need to find out whether dissatisfied democrats can be seen either as a democratic danger or as a democratic defence, but the first findings in this article suggest that a growing group of dissatisfied democrats are a sign of democracy in decline.

Item Type: Journal Article
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Journal or Publication Title: International Political Science Review
Publisher: Sage
ISSN: 0192-5121
Official Date: 2012
Dates:
DateEvent
2012Published
Volume: Vol.33
Number: No.3
Page Range: pp. 279-300
DOI: 10.1177/0192512111431906
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

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