How People Understand Democracy: A Social Dominance Approach

What does “democracy” mean to people? Do different individuals hold different views about what democracy is or should be? What explains those differences? This chapter looks into these questions and gives an account of the sources and explanations of different understandings of democracy among Europeans. It advances a simple argument based on social dominance theory. Individuals that come to acquire a privileged position in society have an interest in defending the political and institutional status quo. Since “democracy” can be understood in different ways, with some understandings closer to and some further from that status quo, social status and social hierarchies help to determine what version of democracy people come to endorse. In other words, people who enjoy privileged positions in society are more likely than individuals with lower social status to espouse a conception of “democracy” consistent with the political status quo.