When Democracies Bend: Understanding Democratic Backsliding Through Citizens' Attitudes

Democratic backsliding has become an urgent concern for both scholars and policymakers. Unlike abrupt democratic breakdowns, this phenomenon is characterized by the gradual erosion of democratic norms and institutions, which often occurs subtly, with leaders and parties undermining democratic principles while maintaining superficial compliance to the uses and norms of democracy. Apart from leaders, an equally crucial piece of the puzzle is the role of citizens: despite widespread public support for democracy, many often fail to hold leaders accountable for democratic violations. Existing explanations often focus on partisan polarization, addressing citizens to base judgements on their party adherence or leaders’ political background. Still, evidence shows these explanations are insufficient. This paper leverages longitudinal survey data to move beyond partisan divides and uncover a heterogeneous spectrum of democratic attitudes rooted in political culture. Contrary to the assumption that the public shows an uniform commitment to democracy, our analysis reveals a range of viewpoints, extending from a cosmetic affirmation of support for democracy to openly non-liberal democratic (or non-democratic at all) visions among the public. We argue that citizens’ responses to democratic violations are shaped not only by their political affiliations but also by their varying levels of commitment to liberal democratic norms, commitments that are further stratified by socio-demographic backgrounds and ideological leanings. Using ResPOnsE COVID-19 panel survey data on Italian citizens, spanning from April 2020 through June 2023, and employing longitudinal factor analysis, we extract a latent variable to measure citizens’ preference for strong state powers, even at the expense of individual liberties. This latent dimension captures the “Trust in the Leviathan”, a specific subset of democratic attitudes, shared by those who do not explicitly support authoritarianism but also lack a strong alignment with liberal democratic principles. This study aims to highlight the importance of the demand-side dynamics of authoritarianism, emphasizing that democratic backsliding is not merely a top-down process but also, and perhaps primarily, reflects the ambivalence of citizens on their compliance to liberal democracy.