How do post-soviet citizens view democracy? Democratic knowledge and support in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Abstract

Recent concerns around the declining support for democracy worldwide add urgency to the question of why ordinary citizens desire a democratic system. An emerging theory is democratic knowledge, which argues that knowing more about the rights and liberties provided by a democratic system leads citizens to want democracy as a result. This paper tests this theory in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, where conventional wisdom suggests that citizens will be less familiar with the features of a democratic system. Using the World Values Survey, it finds that democratic knowledge is a stronger predictor of democratic support than modernization, political learning or political socialization. Moreover, this effect is strongest amongst Ukrainians who grew up in the post-Soviet period, indicating that democratic knowledge is a powerful antidote to the disillusionment that flawed or limited democratization may bring.