Egalitarianism and the democratic deconsolidation: Is democracy compatible with socialism?

François Facchini and Mickael Melki ()
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Mickael Melki: Paris School of Business

Public Choice, 2021, vol. 186, issue 3, No 14, 447-465

Abstract: Abstract The unprecedented reduction in popular support for democracy represents a risk of democratic deconsolidation. The new situation echoes old debates on the compatibility of democracy with capitalism and socialism. This article provides empirical support for the incompatibility of socialism with democracy by providing evidence suggesting that when citizens adopt egalitarianism as a supreme value, they are ready to sacrifice democracy for the sake of equality. Using individual data, we observe that the decline in support for democracy over generations and over time is accompanied by rising support for egalitarian values in US and European democracies. Moreover, democracies with stronger preferences for egalitarianism also have less public support for democracy, suggesting a tradeoff between both values.

Keywords: Democracy; Deconsolidation; Egalitarianism; Millennials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D72 G38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Egalitarianism and the democratic deconsolidation: Is democracy compatible with socialism? (2019)
Working Paper: Egalitarianism and the democratic deconsolidation: Is democracy compatible with socialism? (2019)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11127-019-00744-x

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