Abstract
What explains support for democracy? We ask this question in the context of scholarly assertions that democratic values are weakening among citizens of long-time democracies, most notably among young people. We leverage a panel survey of young Swedes to explore the development of pro-democratic sentiments over time. Investigating whether belonging—specifically, feeling “at home” in Sweden, the municipality, and the neighborhood—strengthens support for democracy, we find that it does positively influence principled support for democracy. In relative terms, we find the impact of belonging to be stronger than that of well-known predictors such as socio-economic status and social capital. Our analysis stands to inform scholarship on democratic values and to illuminate the implications of belonging for political behavior. It also offers insight into the ways that societal integration in the form of belonging can develop among young democratic citizens: through feeling integrated into a range of social communities.
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