Replication Data for: Authoritarian or Simply Disillusioned? Explaining Democratic Skepticism in Central and Eastern Europe

Survey research has revealed that post-communist citizens are skeptical towards democracy. Despite a substantial body of literature that has researched the origins and determinants of these attitudes, consensus has not yet emerged. A major challenge has been to distinguish between individual support for democracy as an ideal political regime and satisfaction with the way democracy is practiced in one's country. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent variables, we improve measurement validity and account for feedback effects to better understand the relationship between these attitudes. Consistent with our performance-based theory, we find that positive assessments of political performance drive normative support for democracy. The impact of satisfaction with democracy on democratic support suggests that we should not rush to view post-communist citizens’ mindset as anomalous and inherently anti-democratic. Rather, post-communist skepticism of democracy might be generalized to contexts characterized by flawed implementation and unmet expectations of this form of government.

调查研究表明，后共产主义国家的民众对民主制度持有怀疑态度。尽管已有大量文献针对这类态度的起源与影响因素展开研究，但学界至今尚未形成统一共识。当前一项核心挑战在于，如何区分个体将民主作为理想政治体制的支持态度，与对本国民主实践现状的满意程度。本研究采用纳入潜变量（latent variables）的结构方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling, SEM），提升了测量效度，并考量反馈效应，从而更深入地剖析这两类态度间的内在关联。结合本研究基于政治绩效提出的理论框架，研究发现对政治绩效的正向评价会驱动民众对民主的规范性支持。民主满意度对民主支持度的影响提示我们，不应急于将后共产主义国家民众的心态视作反常且本质上反民主的。与之相反，后共产主义民众对民主的怀疑态度，或许可推广至那些民主实践存在缺陷、且民众对该政体的预期未得到满足的场景中。