Narrowing the Legitimacy Gap: Turnovers as a Cause of Democratic Consolidation

2009/10/01 by Devra C. Moehler, Devra Moehler, Staffan I. Lindberg · 135 citations
Social Sciences · #Consolidation (business) #Democracy #Democratic consolidation #Democratic legitimacy #Democratization #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Law #Legitimacy #Opposition (politics) #Political Conflict and Governance #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research

paper · doi:10.1017/s0022381609990120

published in The Journal of Politics 71(4), 1448-1466 (University of Chicago Press)

openalex publication_date 2009/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26

Abstract

Democratic consolidation depends on common perceptions of institutional legitimacy among citizens aligned with governing and opposition parties. Elections always result in winners and losers, but if they also create subservient insiders and aggrieved outsiders, the future of the democratic system will be uncertain. This article theorizes about why certain electoral qualities (elections that produce turnovers, are peaceful, accepted by opposition parties, and free and fair) should reduce winner-loser gaps in perceived institutional legitimacy. The hypotheses are tested using a hierarchical two-step statistical procedure to analyze three rounds of Afrobarometer microlevel data combined with national-level data on African elections between 1989 and 2006. The analyses indicate that electoral turnovers (and only turnovers) have a significant moderating effect on the citizenry. Following alternations of power, winners and losers converge in their attitudes about their institutions, thus furthering the consolidation of democracy.

Citations

• Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy

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