Support for democracy in africa: Intrinsic or instrumental?

British Journal of Political Science

Volumn 31, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 447-474

  Bratton, Michael ^a   Mattes, Robert ^b,c  

^a Institute for Democracy ^*  (United States)

^b Institute for Democracy   (South Africa)

^c MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035645985     PISSN: 00071234     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007123401000175     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), p. 5.
2. David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), p. 273, and 'A Reassessment of the Concept of Political Support', Journal of Political Science, 5 (1975), 435-7.
3. David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), p. 273, and 'A Reassessment of the Concept of Political Support', Journal of Political Science, 5 (1975), 435-7.
4. Linz and Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, p. 442.
5. Samuel Barnes, 'Electoral Behavior and Comparative Politics', in Mark Irving Lichbach and Alan S. Zukerman, eds, Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture and Structure (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 115-41, at p. 116.
6. See Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (London: Allen and Unwin, 1942 reprinted 1976); C. B. MacPherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); David Held, Models of Democracy (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987); David Collier and Steven Levitsky, 'Democracy with Adjectives', World Politics, 49 (1997), 430-51.
7. See Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (London: Allen and Unwin, 1942 reprinted 1976); C. B. MacPherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); David Held, Models of Democracy (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987); David Collier and Steven Levitsky, 'Democracy with Adjectives', World Politics, 49 (1997), 430-51.
8. See Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (London: Allen and Unwin, 1942 reprinted 1976); C. B. MacPherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); David Held, Models of Democracy (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987); David Collier and Steven Levitsky, 'Democracy with Adjectives', World Politics, 49 (1997), 430-51.
9. See Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (London: Allen and Unwin, 1942 reprinted 1976); C. B. MacPherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); David Held, Models of Democracy (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987); David Collier and Steven Levitsky, 'Democracy with Adjectives', World Politics, 49 (1997), 430-51.
10. Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 189. See also Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, José Maria Maravall and Adam Przeworski, Economic Reforms in New Democracies: A Social-Democratic Approach (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993). And Adam Przeworski, Adam Alvarez, José Antonio Chiebub and Fernando Limongi, 'What Makes Democracies Endure?' Journal of Democracy, 7 (1996), 39-55.
11. Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 189. See also Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, José Maria Maravall and Adam Przeworski, Economic Reforms in New Democracies: A Social-Democratic Approach (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993). And Adam Przeworski, Adam Alvarez, José Antonio Chiebub and Fernando Limongi, 'What Makes Democracies Endure?' Journal of Democracy, 7 (1996), 39-55.
12. Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 189. See also Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, José Maria Maravall and Adam Przeworski, Economic Reforms in New Democracies: A Social-Democratic Approach (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993). And Adam Przeworski, Adam Alvarez, José Antonio Chiebub and Fernando Limongi, 'What Makes Democracies Endure?' Journal of Democracy, 7 (1996), 39-55.
13. Jon Elster, 'The Necessity and Impossibility of Simultaneous Economic and Political Reform', in D. Greenberg, ed., Constitutional Democracy: Transitions in the Contemporary World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 267-74. at p. 268.
14. Claude Ake, Democracy and Development in Africa (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1996), p. 138. See also 'The Unique Case of African Democracy', International Affairs, 69 (1993), 239-44.
15. Claude Ake, Democracy and Development in Africa (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1996), p. 138. See also 'The Unique Case of African Democracy', International Affairs, 69 (1993), 239-44.
16. Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999), p. 162.
17. Richard Rose, William Mishler and Christian Haerpfer, Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies (Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), p. 160.
18. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives, p. 176.
19. Robert Fishman, 'Rethinking State and Regime: Southern Europe's Transition to Democracy', World Politics, 42 (1990), 422-40. Regimes are sets of rules, states are sets of institutions, and governments are sets of leaders.
20. Mikael Karlstrom, 'Imagining Democracy: Political Culture and Democratisation in Buganda', Africa, 60 (1996), 485-505; Frederic C. Schaffer, Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998); Dan Ottemoeller, 'Popular Perceptions of Democracy: Elections and Attitudes in Uganda', Comparative Political Studies, 31 (1998), 98-124.
21. Mikael Karlstrom, 'Imagining Democracy: Political Culture and Democratisation in Buganda', Africa, 60 (1996), 485-505; Frederic C. Schaffer, Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998); Dan Ottemoeller, 'Popular Perceptions of Democracy: Elections and Attitudes in Uganda', Comparative Political Studies, 31 (1998), 98-124.
22. Mikael Karlstrom, 'Imagining Democracy: Political Culture and Democratisation in Buganda', Africa, 60 (1996), 485-505; Frederic C. Schaffer, Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998); Dan Ottemoeller, 'Popular Perceptions of Democracy: Elections and Attitudes in Uganda', Comparative Political Studies, 31 (1998), 98-124.
23. Michael Bratton and Beatrice Liatto Katundu, 'A Focus Group Assessment of Political Attitudes in Zambia', African Affairs, 93 (1994) 535-63;
24. and Michael Bratton and Mapanza Nkwilimba, 'Analysis of Post-Survey Focus Group Transcripts, 1994' (unpublished document, Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824).
25. Because IFES's 1997 Ghana sample randomly drew an equal number of respondents from every administrative region, it was not representative of the national population as a whole. As a result, descriptive statistics for Ghana in 1997 are calculated using a weighting variable to correct for the over-representation of under-populated regions.
26. Robert Mattes and Hermann Thiel, 'Consolidation and Public Opinion in South Africa', Journal of Democracy, 9 (1998), 95-110.
27. Mattes and Thiel, 'Consolidation and Public Opinion', p. 103.
28. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives, chap. 1.
29. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives, p. 11
30. The major exception among newly democratic regions is Southern Europe: 84 per cent of citizens on average express support for democracy, which exceeds even the 78 per cent mean that prevails in the established democracies of Western Europe. This intra-European comparison suggests that levels of citizen support decline as democracies mature and that, in time, the euphoria of democratic transitions wears off.
31. Mattes and Thiel, 'Consolidation and Public Opinion', p. 95.
32. Calculated for the four South American countries in Table 1 from data presented in Linz and Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, p. 222.
33. Michael Bratton, Philip Alderfer and Neo Simutanyi, 'Political Participation in Zambia, 1991-1996: Trends and Determinants', MSU Working Paper on Political Reform in Africa, No. 16 (East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University, 1997), p. 13.
34. The former figure was constructed by averaging respondents' proclaimed comfort with regime performance on six dimensions, ranging from 76.7 per cent satisfaction with the electoral system to 33.5 per cent satisfaction with health care services. The latter figure records responses to a simpler formulation: 'Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way democracy works in Ghana?'
35. Chris McCarty, Public Opinion in Ghana, 1997 (Washington, DC: International Foundation for Electoral Systems, 1997), p. 27.
36. All variables representing the four candidate explanations (social background, general performance, economic factors, political factors) were entered into the regression equations. The variables that were not statistically significant were left in as controls. Our analysis regarding the relative explanatory strength of different variables is derived from the reported standardized beta coefficients.
37. Michael Bratton and Philip Alderfer with Georgia Bowser and Joseph Temba, 'The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia', World Development, 27 (1999), 807-24, p. 814.
38. Donald Kinder and D.R. Kiewiet, 'Socio-Tropic Politics: The American Case', British Journal of Political Science, 11 (1981), 129-61. See also Heinz Eulau and M. S. Lewis-Beck, eds, Economic Conditions and Electoral Outcomes: The United States and Europe (New York: Agathon Press, 1985).
39. Donald Kinder and D.R. Kiewiet, 'Socio-Tropic Politics: The American Case', British Journal of Political Science, 11 (1981), 129-61. See also Heinz Eulau and M. S. Lewis-Beck, eds, Economic Conditions and Electoral Outcomes: The United States and Europe (New York: Agathon Press, 1985).
40. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives, pp. 139, 140.
41. Eta = 0.460 (Ghana), 0.416 (Zambia) and 0.351 (South Africa), all significant at 0.0001.
42. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives; Diamond, Developing Democracy.
43. Rose et al., Democracy and Its Alternatives; Diamond, Developing Democracy.
44. Linz and Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, p. 435.