When Democracy Brings Insecurity: The Political Legacies of Regime Change

abstract: The circumstances under which a country democratizes can have long-lasting consequences for citizens' political attitudes. To develop this argument, the author links East Germans' satisfaction with the functioning of democracy today to their experiences during German reunification: East Germany democratized under conditions of extreme economic uncertainty, which has had enduring effects on how economic evaluations are linked to democracy satisfaction. An original survey experiment finds that qualitatively similar experiences of current economic insecurity have stronger effects on East than West Germans' democracy satisfaction. Household panel data show that this effect is stronger among those East Germans who experienced more economic hardship during the transition. Surveys of East Germans prior to reunification demonstrate that a similar pattern did not exist before the transition. Finally, cross-national survey data document similar patterns among Eastern Europeans more broadly. These findings complement existing work on the legacies of authoritarian rule by emphasizing the lasting attitudinal effects of authoritarian breakdown.