Evaluating the support for democracy in Post-Communist Europe : the case of Poland
Evaluating the support for democracy in Post-Communist Europe : the case of Poland
This thesis sets out to evaluate public support for young democracies in post-communist society. It studies the challenge that recent regional patterns of democratic support place on the explanatory power of various approaches. The main part of the thesis is an empirical investigation utilising a structured survey of 698 students and backed up by information from a word association test and a free writing exercise. The findings are that the appeal of democracy is emotive, but that support is difficult to separate from a rational explanation. The rational explanation is less in terms of an appreciation for a democratic method of government and more in terms of various economic factors and beliefs. More specifically, democracy is associated with greater rewards than under the past system because of the direction of economic change. It is also suggested that democratic support is related to a protective support buffer which has resulted from an understanding that democracy is still able to provide levels of state protection.
University of Southampton
Samuels, Richard Ian
cb3e98e1-4352-4ccd-8634-86f6181e7dcf
2002
Samuels, Richard Ian
cb3e98e1-4352-4ccd-8634-86f6181e7dcf
Samuels, Richard Ian
(2002)
Evaluating the support for democracy in Post-Communist Europe : the case of Poland.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis sets out to evaluate public support for young democracies in post-communist society. It studies the challenge that recent regional patterns of democratic support place on the explanatory power of various approaches. The main part of the thesis is an empirical investigation utilising a structured survey of 698 students and backed up by information from a word association test and a free writing exercise. The findings are that the appeal of democracy is emotive, but that support is difficult to separate from a rational explanation. The rational explanation is less in terms of an appreciation for a democratic method of government and more in terms of various economic factors and beliefs. More specifically, democracy is associated with greater rewards than under the past system because of the direction of economic change. It is also suggested that democratic support is related to a protective support buffer which has resulted from an understanding that democracy is still able to provide levels of state protection.
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Published date: 2002
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Local EPrints ID: 464542
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/464542
PURE UUID: 972b594e-ea99-4be5-8eb9-35b1ffcc2559
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 23:45
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:35
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Author:
Richard Ian Samuels
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