Democratic Political Community in South Africa Elusive or Not?

Cindy Steenekamp

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 13卷1期 (2017/07) Pp. 59-76

摘要

A democratic government needs the support of its citizens to maintain its legitimacy. A stable and effective democracy does not depend on democratic institutions alone; rather, it requires a political culture that is conducive to democracy. This study utilizes data from the last four waves of the World Values Survey (WVS) to map the characteristics of a democratic community by means of a three-level (culture, structure, and process) hierarchical model in South Africa. The findings show that support for democratic rule is fairly high and higher than support for authoritarian rule; support for the current political system is steadily increasing; and South Africans generally condemn unconventional forms of political behavior and the use of force to gain political goods. At the same time, however, support for authoritarianism has more than doubled; confidence in governmental institutions is decreasing; and South Africans' positive attitude toward law-abidingness is in decline. Possible explanations for these contradictory results are presented, as well as an assessment of the likelihood of a democratic political culture persisting in South Africa.

關鍵字

Democratic community ； democratic values ； political culture ； South Africa

參考文獻

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