The relation between cultural values and models of democracy: a cross-national study

Abstract

The relation between democracy and culture is a long-lasting subject of interest in political science. In the contemporary approach to cultural analysis, value orientations are studied as fundamental manifestations of culture. The mainstream research has focused on finding a relation between the quality of a democratic system and the existence of essential values in a society. There is, however, an understudied question as to what the relation between cultural values and models of democracy in different countries exactly is. We know that there are different models or patterns of democracy (for example, majoritarian versus consensus and participatory versus spectator democracy) discernible in various countries. But what is the reason that a particular country, or set of countries, appreciates and accepts one type of democracy, while suspecting and discrediting other types? This article aims to find an answer to this question from the perspective of cultural differences. Using the empirical data derived from the operationalization of dimensions of democracy and dimensions of culture at the national level, we examine hypotheses regarding the relation between societal cultural values and the practice of different models of democracy in various countries.Keywords: models of democracy; integrative dimension of democracy; participative dimension of democracy; cultural values; dimensions of national culture IntroductionThe relation between democracy and culture is a long-lasting subject of interest in political science. The mainstream research has focused on finding a relation between qualities of a democratic system (for example, effective democracy) and the existence of essential values (for example, self-expression values). Some empirical efforts were made to unravel the relation between cultural values and

Grid, Group, and Grade

“…Moreover, this dimension, for instance, can significantly contribute to explaining variance in models of democracy in different countries. In a recent study, Maleki and Hendriks (2014) present a significant association between the mastery dimension and the adopted model of democracy (i.e., consensual or majoritarian) in action. They theoretically argue and empirically demonstrate how cross-national variance in mastery (or Grade) predicts the inclination of different countries to different models of democracy.…”

Factoring in Societal Culture in Policy Transfer Design: the Proliferation of Private Sponsorship of Refugees

“…Policy transfer theory hints at the vital importance of a fit between policy design and cultural factors for the successful outcome of a given transfer (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000;Fawcett and Marsh 2012;Batory et al 2017). This link has been made more explicit in studying models of democracy and institutional transfer, underscoring the value of cultural compatibility (Maleki and Hendriks 2015). The novelty of most PSS and the resulting lack of data on outcomes make an evaluation of the success of these transplants unfeasible, for the time being.…”

Identifying Profiles of Democracies: A Cluster Analysis Based on the Democracy Matrix Dataset from 1900 to 2017

“…They give expression to a political conflict over values, on which society must take a position. Stressing one value, which might have been selected in a process of negotiation by the different social forces (Bühlmann et al, 2012, p. 123) or which reflects a specific cultural preference (Maleki & Hendriks, 2015), changes the degrees of development of the individual dimensions and their weights relative to one another. The conflicting effects of the dimensions or trade-offs allow citizens to shape their democracy according to their normative preferences.…”