Corruption perceptions: Confidence in elections and evaluations of clientelism Journal Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • AbstractHow does the fairness of the democratic process influence public perceptions of corruption? This article demonstrates the ways that elections can influence broader confidence in democracy. Corruption is often described as one of the most serious problems facing democracy today, and citizen confidence in democracy has implications for system support and legitimacy. What constitutes corruption, however, is not always obvious. We focus on the importance of citizens' feelings about electoral integrity for shaping their attitudes about corruption more broadly. Using survey data from Latin America and an experimental survey in the United States, we show that when asked to evaluate political practices as corrupt or not, people who are more confident in the fairness of their electoral process are generally less concerned about corruption, compared with people who are less confident in elections. These effects hold across a range of practices, experiences, and electoral contexts.

publication date

  • April 1, 2022

has restriction

  • closed

Date in CU Experts

  • January 25, 2022 9:17 AM

Full Author List

  • Bacchus EB; Boulding C

author count

  • 2

Other Profiles

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0952-1895

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1468-0491

Additional Document Info

start page

  • 609

end page

  • 632

volume

  • 35

issue

  • 2