Abstract
The literature presents two arguments about changes in political support. One argument states that satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions are steadily declining because of societal changes. Another argument states that political support fluctuates over time, mostly because of medium- and short-term changes in contextual factors. Using data from 31 European countries between 1973 and 2017, this chapter shows that democratic satisfaction and political trust vary over time, with some countries experiencing a strong decline in some periods and others an increase. It then shows that cross-national differences remain stable, despite changes over time within countries. The results suggest that variation over time and cross-national variation may be explained by within- and between-country contextual conditions.
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Martini, S., Quaranta, M. (2020). Changes Over Time and Country Differences. In: Citizens and Democracy in Europe. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21633-7_4
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