How do citizens understand democracy, and how do these understandings vary across social groups and national contexts? Using data from Round 10 of the European Social Survey across 31 countries, this study develops and validates a three-dimensional model of democratic attitudes. Using latent variable analysis, we identify distinct Liberal, Populist, and Social-democratic dimensions of democratic understanding. Our findings demonstrate that these dimensions show partial measurement invariance across countries, allowing for meaningful cross-national comparisons of latent scores. While the dimensions are positively correlated, suggesting citizens want ?more of democracy? rather than trading off different aspects, they relate differently to social class, political behavior, and institutional trust. Social class emerges as a particularly important predictor, with workers showing stronger support for Populist and Social-democratic dimensions compared to service professionals. These findings contribute to our understanding of democratic legitimacy and stability by showing how democratic attitudes are embedded in social and political structures.
Aleksandar Tomašević (Wed,) studied this question.