Abstract
ABSTRACTPolitical science has a “d-word” problem. Democracy is a central construct in political science, yet researchers have not settled on a single, unified definition. Furthermore, scholars increasingly fear mass publics are dividing on their meanings of democracy. This study uses two nationally representative American public and expert surveys to determine how Americans construe the word democracy. Using Blackbox transpose analysis, it finds that Americans conceive of liberal democracy – a democracy with civil liberties and political rights – more so than of democratic institutions by themselves. Additionally, the publics’ ratings are highly consistent with ratings provided in parallel expert surveys. However, partisanship, education, and political interest colour how democratic citizens perceive different countries to be.
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