How Europeans View and Evaluate Democracy

In 2012 How Europeans View and Evaluate Democracy assessed the Europeans' views and evaluations of the state of democracy after one of the deepest economic and financial crises worldwide. Against the most pessimistic “Zeitgeist,” the book found that there was overwhelming support for democracy in Europe, even if the breadth and scope of the citizens' demands for their democratic systems varied within and between countries. Importantly, with very few exceptions, the implementation of the basic democratic principle of free and fair elections was well-evaluated across Europe. However, analysis also showed that there was room for improvement in many countries, according to the citizens' evaluations. Overall, in 2012, there were no symptoms of a democratic crisis in Europe.

Ten years and several crises later, the authors reassess how Europeans view and evaluate democracy, and that many changes that have occurred in the meantime. This book, How Europeans View and Evaluate Democracy Revisited, compares how Europeans view and evaluate democracy in 2021-22 and in 2012 based on surveys in 24 European countries. It shows that Europeans continue to be attached to democratic ideals and that they continue to be rather dissatisfied with the way these ideals are implemented in their country. The liberal-democratic model continues to enjoy great support, just as it did a decade ago, and there is also support for additional models of democracy - for social, direct, and populist democracy. Surprisingly, the populist model turns out to be a complement rather than a substitute for the other models.


Comparative Politics is a series for researchers, teachers, and students of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterized by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu.

The series is edited by Nicole Bolleyer, Chair of Comparative Political Science, Geschwister Scholl Institut, LMU Munich and Jonathan Slapin, Professor of Political Institutions and European Politics, Department of Political Science, University of Zurich.