TY - CHAP

T1 - THE CULTURAL PRE-REQUISITES OF DEMOCRACY

AU - Welzel, Christian

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Oxford University Press.

PY - 2020/8/6

Y1 - 2020/8/6

N2 - This chapter discusses the mentality structures that must be encultured in a population to allow it to sustain stable democracy. Contrary to the mainstream in the literature, I argue that mass support for democracy, as expressed in surveys, is a rather deceptive indicator of a population’s cultural affinity to democracy. The reason is that support for democracy obscures firmly encultured differences in how people understand democracy. These differences in understanding render numerically similar support ratings incomparable across different populations. By contrast, emancipative values—which emphasize freedom of choice and equality of opportunities—base people’s notion of democracy on a similarly liberal understanding of the term. Hence, overt support for democracy is conducive to actual democracy only in conjunction with emancipative values, but not in dissociation from them. In conclusion, emancipative values represent the most important mentality element of a democratic culture.

AB - This chapter discusses the mentality structures that must be encultured in a population to allow it to sustain stable democracy. Contrary to the mainstream in the literature, I argue that mass support for democracy, as expressed in surveys, is a rather deceptive indicator of a population’s cultural affinity to democracy. The reason is that support for democracy obscures firmly encultured differences in how people understand democracy. These differences in understanding render numerically similar support ratings incomparable across different populations. By contrast, emancipative values—which emphasize freedom of choice and equality of opportunities—base people’s notion of democracy on a similarly liberal understanding of the term. Hence, overt support for democracy is conducive to actual democracy only in conjunction with emancipative values, but not in dissociation from them. In conclusion, emancipative values represent the most important mentality element of a democratic culture.

KW - Culture

KW - Democracy

KW - Legitimacy

KW - Values

KW - Politics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136609295&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/5e776995-edb9-39f3-b0fc-3859c0446d86/

U2 - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198825081.013.3

DO - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198825081.013.3

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85136609295

SN - 9780198825081

SP - 76

EP - 94

BT - The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies

A2 - Rohrschneider, Robert

A2 - Thomassen, Jaques

PB - Oxford University Press

CY - Oxford

ER -