When Democracy Brings Insecurity: How Economic Insecurity Shapes Democracy Dissatisfaction in Post-Socialist Countries

Abstract

The conditions under which a country democratizes can have lasting consequences for political support. This paper links persistently low support among citizens in Central and Eastern Europe to their experiences during the early democratic years: democratization in the region occurred under conditions of high economic uncertainty, leading citizens to see democracy responsible for their economic woes. As a result, citizens who went through this experience are quicker to blame democracy for economic insecurity whenever it arises. I support this argument with research on variation in democracy satisfaction between East and West Germans. Evidence comes from an original survey experiment, a large household panel survey, and observational data on historical unemployment rates and present-day voting for the far-right populist AfD in East Germany. Understanding the causes of low political support is an important task in a time of democratic backsliding and rising support for populist parties.