Joblessness and Perceptions about the Effectiveness of Democracy

Duha Altindag and Naci Mocan

No 4930, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Using micro data on more than 130,000 individuals from 69 countries, we analyze the extent to which joblessness of the individuals and the prevailing unemployment rate in the country impact perceptions of the effectiveness of democracy. We find that personal joblessness experience translates into negative opinions about the effectiveness of democracy and it increases the desire for a rouge leader. Evidence from people who live in European countries suggests that being jobless for more than a year is the source of discontent. We also find that well-educated and wealthier individuals are less likely to indicate that democracies are ineffective, regardless of joblessness. People's beliefs about the effectiveness of democracy as system of governance are also shaped by the unemployment rate in countries with low levels of democracy. The results suggest that periods of high unemployment and joblessness could hinder the development of democracy or threaten its existence.

Keywords: unemployment duration; democracy; education; development; World Values Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J2 O1 P1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2010-05
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published - published in: Journal of Labor Research, 2010, 31 (2), 99-123

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp4930.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Joblessness and Perceptions about the Effectiveness of Democracy (2010)
Working Paper: Joblessness and Perceptions about the Effectiveness of Democracy (2010)
Working Paper: Joblessness and Perceptions about the Effectiveness of Democracy (2010)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4930

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().