About the project
Democracy is widely considered a superior political system in terms of ensuring broad political participation and the protection of human rights. Hence, this form of rule has inherent normative value. Yet, several people would seemingly prefer to substitute democracy with more authoritarian systems. How can this be?
Throughout history, and at present, democracy has been met with counter-arguments, aimed to limit or even overturn it. These arguments play prominent roles in political theory, but their various manifestations and popular acceptance has been insufficiently mapped and scrutinized in empirical democracy research.
