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Agustin Goenaga

Agustín Goenaga

Associate professor

Agustin Goenaga

Are competent citizens critical democrats? Political resources and evaluations of democratic institutions

Author

  • Agustín Goenaga
  • Michael A. Hansen

Summary, in English

This article examines how cognitive resources such as internal efficacy and political knowledge relate to citizens’ ability to evaluate democratic institutions. Using original survey data from the United States (N = 1093), we find, first, that internal efficacy is associated with more positive assessments of democratic institutions in general. Conversely, political knowledge is associated with more discriminating assessments of specific institutions. Third, political knowledge moderates the positive impact of internal efficacy. Finally, while partisan and ideological reasoning are present in citizens’ evaluations of democracy, greater political knowledge is associated with more nuanced assessments of democratic institutions across parties and ideological orientations. These results suggest that increasing cognitive resources can contribute to the development of critical citizens capable of identifying undemocratic features of their political systems.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2025

Language

English

Pages

973-987

Publication/Series

Social Science Journal

Volume

62

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Political Science

Keywords

  • Democratic evaluations
  • internal political efficacy
  • motivated reasoning
  • political knowledge

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0362-3319