Democracy, Belief and Wellbeing

From the average voter to the most powerful world leaders, most people are eager to declare their support for democracy. When they are presented with an opportunity to behave undemocratically to further their agenda, however, should we take them at their word? Research was conducted to identify the individual differences that predict people's intentions to uphold democratic principles, operationalized as actions supporting the democratic ideal of equal participation. The research also explored the consequences of these individual differences in terms of how democracy impacts well-being. This lecture will summarize the research studies conducted and the outcomes, with the goals of understanding whether liberals or conservatives are more negatively affected by low democracy, clarifying the notoriously opaque question of who is the most democratic, and identifying some important practical implications of how one’s country can affect well-being.