The Roots of a Weakening Democracy

Publication Date

2026

Presentation Length

15 minutes

College

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

Department

Political Science, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Nathan Griffith

Metadata/Fulltext

Metadata ONLY

Presentation Type

Talk/Oral

Summary

This study examines why citizens tolerate or support leaders who undermine democratic institutions, a key driver of contemporary democratic backsliding. Building on existing literature, which emphasizes economic inequality, affective polarization, and perceived threats, this paper argues that citizen-level attitudes—particularly perceptions of threat to social status—play a central role in enabling democratic erosion. While prior research has largely relied on earlier waves of the World Values Survey (WVS), this study addresses a critical gap by utilizing Wave 7 (2017–2022), the most recent and comprehensive dataset on global democratic attitudes. Using a quantitative, cross-national research design, the analysis employs multivariate regression to evaluate how perceptions of security and identity-based threats shape support for authoritarian alternatives. By reassessing democratic attitudes with updated data, this study contributes to the literature by providing new empirical evidence on the micro-level foundations of democratic backsliding and clarifying the conditions under which citizens become willing to support the erosion of democratic institutions.

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