Are Citizens in Municipalities With Uncontested Elections More Satisfied With Their Local Democracy Than Those in Municipalities With Contested Elections?

This article examines citizens’ satisfaction with their municipal democracy according to whether mayoral elections were competitive or non-competitive. After defining different types of satisfaction and based on a survey of 4,026 respondents in the province of Quebec (Canada), we show that citizens living in municipalities where elections were non-competitive are more satisfied with the mayor than citizens living in municipalities where elections were competitive. These results suggest that—in the eyes of some voters—the mere fact that a citizen is available to hold office is sufficient to ensure democracy. More generally, our results underline the need for a detailed understanding of citizen satisfaction and the different ways in which it can be expressed in the various contexts and electoral mechanisms in force.