Citizens and the democratic window of opportunity: An analysis of economic crisis and the demand for democracy on the individual level

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2018-12-18
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en
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This study investigated the relationship between economic crisis and democracy in sub-Saharan Africa on the individual level. This research is based on the theory of Acemoglu and Robinson, which argues that when opportunity cost are sufficiently low, citizens will overthrow the ruling government. This period in time is named the ‘democratic window of opportunity’. This research argues that not an economic downturn will not impact everyone equally, and so this study hypothesizes that citizens who experience a negative economic shock are more inclined to demand more democracy. Regional rainfall shocks are included as an intermediate variable, as rainfall shocks can cause negative economic shocks and have a temporal nature. This research hypothesized that individuals that experienced a rainfall shock are more inclined to demand more democracy. These hypotheses were empirically tested via an cross-sectional study involving 34 nations and over 35.000 observations. The citizen’s demand for democracy was measured through two key areas: The individual’s attitude towards non-democratic change, and their participation in actions against the government. The findings suggest that citizens experiencing a negative economic shock are more inclined to demand more democracy. Furthermore, the results for the relationship between rainfall shocks and negative, economic shocks are inconclusive.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen