Don't Good Democracies Need "Good" Citizens? Citizen Dispositions and the Study of Democratic Quality

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

This article advances the argument that quality of democracy depends not only on the performance of democratic institutions but also on the dispositions of citizens. We make three contributions to the study of democratic quality. First, we develop a fine-grained, structured conceptualization of the three core dispositions (democratic commitments, political capacities, and political participation) that make up the citizen component of democratic quality. Second, we provide a more precise account of the notion of inter-component congruence or "fit" between the institutional and citizen components of democratic quality, distinguishing between static and dynamic forms of congruence. Third, drawing on cross-national data, we show the importance of taking levels of inter-dispositional consistency into account when measuring democratic quality.

Object Details

• ISSN: 2183-2463
• Extent: Seite(n): 33-47
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Politics and Governance, 6(1)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Politikwissenschaft ; Allgemeines, spezielle Theorien und Schulen, Methoden, Entwicklung und Geschichte der Politikwissenschaft ; politische Willensbildung, politische Soziologie, politische Kultur ; Demokratie ; Qualität ; öffentliche Meinung ; Demokratieverständnis ; politische Partizipation ; politisches Interesse ; direkte Demokratie ; politisches Verhalten ; internationaler Vergleich

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Mayne, Quinton ; Geißel, Brigitte
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Portugal
• (when): 2018

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v6i1.1216
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST