Threats to liberal democracy: globalisation, populism, and political alienation in Western European countries

Many academics argue that there is a crisis of democratic legitimacy even in established democracies regarding the degree to which citizens support key institutions of liberal democracy. A pervasive argument attributes a weakening of attachment to liberal democracy to citizens who are the losers from economic globalisation. Using data from the European Social Survey, we explore the extent to which economic disadvantage, support for radical-right populist parties, political alienation, and apathy are associated with weaker attachment to liberal democracy in ten Western European countries. Our results show that voting for a right-wing populist type party, high levels of political apathy, and economic deprivation are all significantly associated with a weaker attachment to the principles of liberal democracy and with stronger authoritarian tendencies. The impact of political apathy, as measured by a lack of interest in politics rather than economic disadvantage, had the strongest negative association with attachment to democracy.