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Learning to Love Democracy: Electoral Accountability and the Success of Democracy

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  • Milan W. Svolik
Abstract
This article explains why dissatisfaction with the performance of individual politicians in new democracies often turns into disillusionment with democracy as a political system. The demands on elections as an instrument of political accountability are much greater in new than established democracies: politicians have yet to form reputations, a condition that facilitates the entry into politics of undesirable candidates who view this period as their “one‐time opportunity to get rich.” After a repeatedly disappointing government performance, voters may rationally conclude that “all politicians are crooks” and stop discriminating among them, to which all politicians rationally respond by “acting like crooks,” even if most may be willing to perform well in office if given appropriate incentives. Such an expectation‐driven failure of accountability, which I call the “trap of pessimistic expectations,” may precipitate the breakdown of democracy. Once politicians establish reputations for good performance, however, these act as barriers to the entry into politics of low‐quality politicians. The resulting improvement in government performance reinforces voters’ belief that democracy can deliver accountability, a process that I associate with democratic consolidation. These arguments provide theoretical microfoundations for several prominent empirical associations between the economic performance of new democracies, public attitudes toward democracy, and democratic stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Milan W. Svolik, 2013. "Learning to Love Democracy: Electoral Accountability and the Success of Democracy," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 685-702, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:57:y:2013:i:3:p:685-702
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12005
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Luis R. Martinez & Jonas Jessen & Guo Xu, 2023. "A Glimpse of Freedom: Allied Occupation and Political Resistance in East Germany," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 68-106, January.
    2. Danielle Resnick, 2022. "Does Accountability Undermine Service Delivery? The Impact of Devolving Agriculture in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 1003-1029, April.
    3. Møller, Jørgen & Schmotz, Alexander & Skaaning, Svend-Erik, 2015. "Economic crisis and democratic breakdown in the interwar years: a reassessment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 40(2), pages 301-318.
    4. Joshua A Strayhorn, 2019. "Plausible deniability," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 31(4), pages 600-625, October.
    5. Absher, Samuel & Grier, Robin & Grier, Kevin, 2023. "The consequences of CIA-sponsored regime change in Latin America," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Jeremy Bowles & Benjamin Marx, 2022. "Turnover and Accountability in Africa's Parliaments," Working Papers hal-03873800, HAL.
    7. Rubén Ruiz-Rufino & Sarah Birch, 2020. "The effect of alternation in power on electoral intimidation in democratizing regimes," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(1), pages 126-139, January.
    8. Prato, Carlo & Wolton, Stephane, 2018. "Rational ignorance, populism, and reform," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 119-135.
    9. Anqi Li & Davin Raiha & Kenneth W. Shotts, 2019. "Propaganda, Alternative Media, and Accountability in Fragile Democracies," Papers 1909.11836, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2021.
    10. Conroy-Krutz, Jeffrey, 2018. "Media exposure and political participation in a transitional African context," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 224-242.
    11. Hubert Tworzecki, 2019. "Poland: A Case of Top-Down Polarization," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 97-119, January.
    12. Acemoglu, Daron & Ajzenman, Nicolas & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Fiszbein, Martin & Molina, Carlos, 2021. "(Successful) Democracies Breed Their Own Support," IZA Discussion Papers 14691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Prato, Carlo & Wolton, Stephane, 2014. "Electoral Imbalances and their Consequences," MPRA Paper 68650, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Nov 2015.
    14. Li, Anqi & Hu, Lin, 2023. "Electoral accountability and selection with personalized information aggregation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 296-315.
    15. Satoshi Kasamatsu & Daiki Kishishita, 2020. "Collective Reputation and Learning in Political Agency Problems," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1110, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    16. Dov H. Levin, 2019. "A Vote for Freedom? The Effects of Partisan Electoral Interventions on Regime Type," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(4), pages 839-868, April.
    17. Bräuninger, Thomas & Marinov, Nikolay, 2022. "Political elites and the “War on Truth’’," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    18. Tobias Heinrich & Matt W. Loftis, 2019. "Democracy Aid and Electoral Accountability," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(1), pages 139-166, January.
    19. Carlitz, Ruth D. & Ziaja, Sebastian, 2021. "Dissecting aid fragmentation: Development goals and levels of analysis," IDOS Discussion Papers 17/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    20. Prato, Carlo & Wolton, Stephane, 2013. "Rational Ignorance, Elections, and Reform," MPRA Paper 68638, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Dec 2015.
    21. Horacio A. Larreguy & John Marshall & James M. Snyder, Jr., 2014. "Revealing Malfeasance: How Local Media Facilitates Electoral Sanctioning of Mayors in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 20697, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Pierre Salmon, 2017. "Is democracy exportable?," Working Papers halshs-01516493, HAL.

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