Does support for democracy increase losers’ consent?
2026-07-17
Regime legitimacy and survival rely on citizens’ consent to election results, even when these results are unfavorable. Theories posit that individuals with pro-democratic attitudes are more accepting of electoral losses. We test this assumption by analyzing the empirical relationship between support for democratic principles, such as universal suffrage, and electoral consent to randomly generated, hypothetical but plausible electoral outcomes. Using data from a representative sample of Germans, we find a negative correlation between the two variables. Furthermore, those with the strongest democratic convictions are those most influenced in their consent by partisan preferences. Part of the explanation stems from reactions to the far-right, anti-democratic party Alternative for Germany, as many respondents strongly dislike this party and are unwilling to consent to outcomes in which it performs well. However, even among other respondents, democratic support does not correlate positively with losers’ consent.