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This study explores the impact of crises on democratic support in Georgia by analyzing how external and domestic challenges – including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and internal democratic backsliding – have shaped diffuse and specific support for democracy between 2019 and 2024. Despite growing concerns associated with democratic backsliding, including electoral malpractices, the curtailing of fundamental democratic freedoms, attempts to silence civil society and turning away from a pro-EU pathway, our findings reveal that both diffuse and specific support for democracy have increased during this period, suggesting that these crises have bolstered regime support instead of undermining it. Our results show that while drivers of diffuse support for democracy have remained largely consistent, those influencing specific support have shifted. Strong partisan effects indicate that the costs of the incumbent party attacking democracy remain low, making democratic backsliding more likely.
Torres-Adán et al. (Fri,) studied this question.