Resumen de Determinants of Democratic Legitimacy: Liberal Democracy and Social Justice
In more democratic and developed, wealthier and egalitarian societies the aggregate level of legitimacy is higher than in the less developed ones. This is an expected and, after all, pretty trivial result. Detailed analyses allow us to claim that in the less developed countries, in more fragile democracies and the ones that are harder hit by the recent crisis, the evaluations of performance, be it of the economy or of the incumbents, are much more important for legitimacy than they are in more developed countries and stable democracies. It is also clear that among the “short-term” factors, the economic ones matter much more for legitimacy than do the cultural and political ones. Briefly, dissatisfaction with the economy and the poor performance of the incumbents influence legitimacy much more powerfully in fragile democracies, poorer countries, and less egalitarian ones as well as in countries harder hit by the global crisis.
