Professor Scott Williamson will discuss evidence on the popular roots of democratic decline in the Calleva Seminar for Michaelmas Term 2026

People around the world continue to express strong support for democracy, but in recent years, many democracies have been undermined from within by political leaders who attack democratic norms and institutions. Often, these leaders have weakened democracy while maintaining support from the same citizens who claim to value democratic governance. What explains this mismatch? One possible explanation is that people have different understandings of what democracy means, and so they do not recognize these leaders’ actions as problematic. Another explanation is that people care about democracy, but they tolerate anti-democratic leaders because they care more about other economic, social, or political outcomes. This talk draws on original public opinion research from more than a dozen countries to assess whether and how these explanations help us to understand why pro-democratic citizens support anti-democratic leaders. The evidence suggests that people broadly agree on an understanding of democracy as a system based on competitive elections and protections for civil liberties, and that they value democracy strongly compared to other governance outcomes. However, it also indicates that people often struggle to identify whether specific actions by political leaders threaten democracy. This uncertainty can motivate them to give the benefit of the doubt to anti-democratic leaders who share their partisan identity or policy goals. These results have implications for communication and political strategies that can be effective for democracy’s advocates.

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