Replication Data for: Having their Say: Authority, Voice, and Satisfaction with Democracy

Scholars, using macro-level evidence, have shown that satisfaction with democracy is higher when citizens feel that their instrumental preferences are represented in government, which is more common in non-majoritarian institutional contexts. Receiving less attention has been whether such institutions also increase satisfaction by providing more inclusive political discourse. Citizens may value having their voice represented in politics, independent of authority. This paper presents the first micro-level evidence of this mechanism by having subjects experience a simulated election campaign that manipulates both the outcome and the discussion of a policy issue that they cared about. The results show that subjects were less satisfied with democracy when they lost the election, but that this gap disappeared when ‘losers’ had been exposed to discussion of an issue they felt was important. This suggests that institutions and party systems with more diverse voices may cushion the blow of losing by producing more inclusive discourse.