2023/01/04 by Fred Cutler, Andrea Nuesser, Benjamin Nyblade · 12 citations
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #Computer science #Democracy #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Estimation #European Social Survey #Mathematics #Multilevel model #Political science #Politics #Social Capital and Networks #Social Media and Politics #Solidity #Statistics #Structural equation modeling #Survey data collection #Variation (astronomy)
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0008423922000853
published in Canadian Journal of Political Science 56(1), 1-25 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2023/01/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract We propose a new, unified approach for comparative research on citizens’ satisfaction with democracy (SWD). It starts with a well-specified individual-level model of the considerations citizens draw upon when answering the SWD survey question. Then we specify the relationship from contextual factors (especially institutions) through these individual-level mediating considerations and on to the SWD attitude. Multilevel structural equation estimation is applied to a merged dataset of European Social Survey (ESS) and country-level contextual data. The results add solidity to theoretical and empirical findings that citizens’ judgments of democracy are driven mostly by policy outputs and lived experience and not much by institutional variation or its political consequences.