Permissive Voters: Citizen Tolerance for Violations of Electoral Integrity
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Abstract
Voters identified with the incumbent government are usually more trustful of political institutions. Under certain circumstances, however, these voters are also more tolerant of executive transgressions of democratic norms and institutions. The present article provides evidence that voters identified with the incumbent are more permissive of infringements of electoral integrity, especially when it is
the executive who biases the playing field and manipulates elections. This study leverages World Value Survey’s data from fourteen countries in the America. Each country is classified as a liberal democracy, electoral democracy and competitive authoritarianism. The results show that perceptions of electoral integrity and malpractice are both correlated with citizen’s identification with the incumbent government and the regime type. In particular, the analysis reveals that citizens who support the government and live in competitive authoritarian regimes are the most permissive, as they perceive as much electoral integrity as voters in liberal democracies. The findings contribute to studying the conditions that enhance the public’s tolerance of electoral malpractice and transgressions of integrity.
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References
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