Saltar a navegação
Critical Citizens
Book

Critical Citizens

Global Support for Democratic Governance

Oxford UP, 1999 mais...

áudio gerado automaticamente
áudio gerado automaticamente

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

The waning support among citizens for democratic institutions and their political leaders has been well documented in the United States in recent years. Now, academics analyzing global support for democracy have uncovered similar trends in other democracies. Mistrust of politicians, it seems, is becoming one of the universal values of the global village, according to this compilation edited by Pippa Norris. The book draws data from the World Value Survey, a unique, comprehensive survey of citizens of the world’s democracies. By definition, democracies are made up of diverse interest groups, each clamoring for itself – so, is skepticism really a surprise, or unhealthy? More important, is it an indication that perhaps democracies are not as stable as you might hope? getAbstract recommends this book to those with an interest – be it philosophical or commercial – in the growth and health of global democracies, and also notes its specific interest to students of political science.

Take-Aways

  • Throughout the world’s democracies, public confidence in governmental institutions is declining dramatically.
  • In the US, public confidence has plummeted to 30% for universities, 14% for journalists, and 21% for major corporations.
  • Ironically, democracies encourage skepticism toward the institutions that support them.

About the Author

Pippa Norris is Associate Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center at the Kennedy Center of Government. Norris specializes in comparative political behavior.


More on this topic

Related Channels