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What Democracy Means to Citizens – and Why It Matters
Authors:
Siddhartha Baviskar ,
University of Pittsburgh, US
About Siddhartha
Siddhartha Baviskar is a Ph.D. Candidate of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dissertation is a cross-temporal study of the relationship between political culture and political regime in Chile. His general research interests include public opinion and democratization in Latin America.
Mary Fran T. Malone
University of Pittsburgh, US
About Mary Fran
Mary Fran T. Malone is a Ph.D. Candidate of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of New Hampshire. Her dissertation focuses on the rule of law and democratization in Latin America. Recently she has published articles in the Bulletin of Latin American Research and Desarrollo Económico.
Abstract
Recent survey research indicates that democracy means different things to different people. For some, democracy is a method of selecting leaders, protecting civil liberties and political rights, and upholding the rule of law. Other citizens have more expansive views of democracy, viewing it as a mechanism for promoting social equality and economic growth, for example. While such studies provide strong evidence that the concept ‘democracy’ is multidimensional, to date scholars have not explained why citizens think of democracy in myriad ways, and whether such differences matter. We aim to address these issues using data gathered from field research in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala in 2001. Through open-ended questions, we asked diverse groups of respondents what democracy meant to them. Relying upon answers to these questions, we attempt to explain why respondents had such varying views of democracy, and examine the implications these conceptualizations of democracy have for regime stability.
Resumen: Qué significa la democracia para los ciudadanos y por qué es importante
Recientes investigaciones basadas en encuestas de opinión pública revelan que la democracia significa diferentes cosas según de quién se trate. Para algunos, la democracia es un método para elegir líderes, proteger las libertades civiles y los derechos políticos, y mantener el estado de derecho. Otros ciudadanos tienen visiones más amplias de la democracia, y la ven, por ejemplo, como un mecanismo para promover la igualdad social y el crecimiento económico. Aunque estos estudios ofrecen pruebas fuertes de que el concepto ‘democracia’ es multi-dimensional, hasta ahora los investigadores no han explicado por qué los ciudadanos piensan de maneras tan variadas, y si estas diferencias importan. En este estudio, nuestra meta es abordar este tema utilizando datos recogidos en el trabajo de campo realizado en Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Guatemala en 2001. A través de preguntas abiertas, preguntamos a diversos grupos de entrevistados qué significa la democracia para ellos. Basándonos en las respuestas obtenidas, intentamos explicar por qué los entrevistados tenían visiones tan distintas de la democracia, y examinamos las implicancias de estas diversas conceptualizaciones de la democracia para la estabilidad del régimen democrático.
How to Cite:
Baviskar, S., & Malone, M. F. T. (2004). What Democracy Means to Citizens – and Why It Matters. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, (76), 3–23. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18352/erlacs.9682
Published on
15 Apr 2004.
Peer Reviewed
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