Myth and reality of the legitimacy crisis : explaining trends and cross-national differences in established democracies / edited by Carolien van Ham, Jacques Thomassen, Kees Aarts, and Rudy Andeweg.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ham, Carolien van, 1980- editor.

Thomassen, J. J. A., editor.

Aarts, Kees, editor.

Andeweg, R. B., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legitimacy of governments.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

xvii, 261 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Theories about the decline of legitimacy and legitimacy crisis are as old as democracy itself. Yet, representative democracy still exists, and the empirical evidence for a secular decline of political support in established democracies is limited, questionable, or absent. This lack of conclusive evidence calls into question existing explanatory theories of legitimacy decline. How valid are theories of modernization, globalization, media malaise, social capital, and party decline, if the predicted outcome (i.e. secular decline of political support) does not occur? And which explanations can account for the empirical variation in political support in established democracies? This book systematically evaluates the empirical evidence for legitimacy decline in established democracies, the explanatory power of theories of legitimacy decline, and promises new routes in investigating and assessing political legitimacy. In doing so, the book provides a broad and thorough reflection on the state of the art of legitimacy research, and outlines a new research agenda on legitimacy. Book jacket.

Contents:

A legitimacy crisis of representative democracy? / Jacques Thomassen and Carolien van Ham

The myth of legitimacy decline : an empirical evaluation of trends in political support in established democracies / Carolien van Ham and Jacques Thomassen

Modernization, globalization, and satisfaction with democracy / Kees Aarts, Carolien van Ham, and Jacques Thomassen

Social capital and the development of political support in Europe / Marc Hooghe and Ana Kern

Legitimacy decline and party decline / Rudy B. Andeweg and David M. Farrell

Media maiaise and the decline of legitimacy : any room for good news? / Peter van Aelst

Institutions and political support : how much do institutions matter? / Shaun Bowler

Dissecting the causal chain from quality of government to political support / Tom van der Meer

Economic outcomes, quality of governance, and satisfaction with democracy / Pedro C. Magalhães

Political support in the wake of policy controversies / Peter Esaiasson, Mikael Gilljam, and Mikael Persson

Studying political legitimacy : findings, implications, and an uneasy question / Rudy B. Andeweg and Kees Aarts.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-248) and index.

ISBN:

9780198793717

0198793715

OCLC:

982093019