European Citizens’ Conceptions of Democracy: The Explanatory Power of Non-Democratic Political Socialization

How does a country’s authoritarian past influence what people think about democracy? Research shows that socialization in a non-democratic political system has a negative impact on support for democracy and influences what citizens expect democracy to be. For Germany, it has been shown that political socialization in the former socialist system of East Germany leads not only to a more socialist, but also a more populist conception of democracy among citizens. However, Germany remains a quite specific case, and it is unclear whether political socialization in non-democracies across Europe shapes attitudes towards democracy in the same way. Using data from Round 10 of the European Social Survey, this paper analyses differences in support for different political systems and conceptions of democracy for people socialized in different democratic and authoritarian regimes across Europe. Western European citizens were socialized democratically following World War II, while Southern European and Eastern European countries experienced democratic transition at different points later in time. Particularly, it is expected that citizens who were not socialized in a democracy differ in their ideas about democracy from those socialized after democratic transition. While there is no clear effect of political socialization on support for democracy or authoritarianism, the results suggest that political socialization in a non-democratic system indeed leads to higher support for a populist conception of democracy, irrespective of what type of authoritarian regime citizens grew up in.