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Democratic Resource or Democratic Threat? Profiles of Critical and Uncritical Citizens in Comparative Perspective

Democratic Resource or Democratic Threat? Profiles of Critical and Uncritical Citizens in... <jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Why are some countries democratic and democratize continuously, while others stagnate? According to theories on political culture, citizens' attitudes are crucial elements. In this context the discussion on critical citizens is gaining prominence: Critical citizens are regarded as a threat to democratic stability or as promoter for democratic reforms. Based on the International Social Survey data (2004), I will contribute some empirical evidence to this controversy. In addition to the common equating of criticism with discontentment, I will also include the normative disposition of “critical” attentiveness. Bivariate and multivariate analyses show that contentment, praised in previous research, or discontentment, as suggested by recent studies, are not the decisive attitudes. It is the political attentiveness which promotes democracies.</jats:p> </jats:sec> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Comparative Sociology Brill

Democratic Resource or Democratic Threat? Profiles of Critical and Uncritical Citizens in Comparative Perspective

Comparative Sociology , Volume 7 (1): 4 – Jan 1, 2008

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2008 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1569-1322
eISSN
1569-1330
DOI
10.1163/156913307X233692
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Why are some countries democratic and democratize continuously, while others stagnate? According to theories on political culture, citizens' attitudes are crucial elements. In this context the discussion on critical citizens is gaining prominence: Critical citizens are regarded as a threat to democratic stability or as promoter for democratic reforms. Based on the International Social Survey data (2004), I will contribute some empirical evidence to this controversy. In addition to the common equating of criticism with discontentment, I will also include the normative disposition of “critical” attentiveness. Bivariate and multivariate analyses show that contentment, praised in previous research, or discontentment, as suggested by recent studies, are not the decisive attitudes. It is the political attentiveness which promotes democracies.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Journal

Comparative SociologyBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2008

Keywords: DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDES; CRITICAL CITIZEN; DEMOCRACY; PUBLIC OPINION

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