Rationalizing Democracy: The Perceptual Bias and (Un)Democratic Behavior

Suthan Krishnarajan

doi:10.1017/S0003055422000806

Rationalizing Democracy: The Perceptual Bias and (Un)Democratic Behavior

Department of Political Science

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Abstract

Democracy often confronts citizens with a dilemma: stand firm on democracy while losing out on policy or accept undemocratic behavior and gain politically. Existing literature demonstrates that citizens generally choose the latter - and that they do so deliberately. Yet there is an alternative possibility. Citizens can avoid this uncomfortable dilemma altogether by rationalizing their understandings of democracy. When a politician advances undesired policies without violating democratic rules and norms, people find ways to perceive the behavior as undemocratic. When a politician acts undemocratically to promote desired policies, citizens muster up arguments for considering it democratic. Original survey experiments in the United States, and 22 democracies worldwide, provide strong support for this argument. It is thus not deliberate acceptance, but a fundamentally different perceptual logic that drives the widespread approval of undemocratic behavior in today's democracies.

Original language	English
Journal	American Political Science Review
Volume	117
Issue	2
Pages (from-to)	474-496
Number of pages	23
ISSN	0003-0554
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055422000806
Publication status	Published - May 2023

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Rationalizing Democracy_Accepted manuscript_2023Accepted manuscript, 521 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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AB - Democracy often confronts citizens with a dilemma: stand firm on democracy while losing out on policy or accept undemocratic behavior and gain politically. Existing literature demonstrates that citizens generally choose the latter - and that they do so deliberately. Yet there is an alternative possibility. Citizens can avoid this uncomfortable dilemma altogether by rationalizing their understandings of democracy. When a politician advances undesired policies without violating democratic rules and norms, people find ways to perceive the behavior as undemocratic. When a politician acts undemocratically to promote desired policies, citizens muster up arguments for considering it democratic. Original survey experiments in the United States, and 22 democracies worldwide, provide strong support for this argument. It is thus not deliberate acceptance, but a fundamentally different perceptual logic that drives the widespread approval of undemocratic behavior in today's democracies.

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Rationalizing Democracy: The Perceptual Bias and (Un)Democratic Behavior

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