Popular democratic perception matters for political trust in authoritarian regimes

Abstract

Governmental performance is important for maintaining the public’s political trust. This article examines the moderating role of the popular perceptions of democracy on the effect of governmental performance on political trust in authoritarian regimes by studying the case of China. The popular perceptions of democracy affect the evaluations of governmental performance, and the effects of governmental performance on political trust are contingent on particular democratic perception. The results reveal that a better government’s social performance particularly increases political trust among people who view elections as an essential component of democracy. However, such a positive effect is significantly reduced among people who consider political rights to be a key component of democracy. Regardless of how Chinese people view democracy, government’s poor political performance reduces people’s political trust in the government. However, the negative effect is most significant among people who prioritize political rights in their perception of democracy. For those who view economic security as an essential component of democracy, the negative effect of the government’s poor political performance on political trust is substantially attenuated.