Estimating the value of democracy relative to other institutional and economic outcomes among citizens in Brazil France and the United States

Abstract

How much do citizens value democracy? How willing are they to sacrifice their libertiesand voting rights for growth, equality, or other social outcomes? We design a conjointexperiment in nationally representative surveys in Brazil, France, and the United Statesin which respondents choose between different societies that randomly vary in theireconomic outcomes (country income, income inequality, social mobility), politicaloutcomes (democracy, public health insurance), and the level of personal income foreach respondent. Our research allows us to estimate the respondents’ willingness totrade off democracy for individual income (as well as other societal attributes). Wefind that, on average, individuals are strongly attached to democracy and a robustwelfare state. They prefer to live in a country without free democratic electionsonly if their individual income multiplies by at least three times and in a countrywithout public health insurance only if their individual income more than doubles.After estimating these preferences at the individual level for all respondents, we showthat, although there is an authoritarian minority in all three countries, forming anondemocratic majority (by offering more income and/or other goods to respondents)is very unlikely. Our findings imply that, contrary to a growing discussion about thecrisis of democracy, liberal democratic values remain substantially robust in high andmiddle income democracies