Institutions and the quality of democracy: political culture in Southern Europe

Since the 1970s, political science literature has diagnosed signs of growing discontent and distance between citizens and democratic institutions, giving rise to the what is known as a "permanent crisis of confidence in democracy". In the final decades of the 20th century, several political culture indicators fell. Since then, we have seen a decline in levels of trust in democratic authorities and satisfaction with democracy, at the same time as a reduction in electoral participation, an increase in electoral volatility and a drop in the social rooting of parties, as well as in interpersonal trust and social capital.

For a number of reasons, Southern Europe is a privileged region for studying political culture. Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy and France, despite many differences in terms of their level of socioeconomic development, international weight, religion and democratic tradition, share a number of unique features. First of all, they are countries where a less civic political culture has been identified since the beginning of the modern age: 1) more general and impersonal bonds of solidarity, which are essential for democratic political participation and civic initiatives, are difficult to establish; and 2) client-patron ties as a privileged form of connection between the elite and the masses, which historically translated into corruption and vote-buying.

From the late 1970s to the present day, we have witnessed a new era in changes in democratic regimes worldwide, characterised by deep tensions between capitalism and democracy. This era of globalisation and neoliberalism, based on the deregulation of labour and financial markets and the privatisation of public services, has generated extreme economic volatility and frequent crises. Southern Europe, which is largely peripheral to the international capitalist system, has been greatly affected by these dynamics in recent decades. The Great Recession of 2007-14 generated a serious social and political crisis in the democracies that make it up. As the EU interpreted this as a sovereign debt crisis in the countries on the geographical periphery of Europe (although in 2007 only Greece had an excessive deficit according to EU parameters), conditions for access to credit were imposed on this group of countries, which included internal devaluation, cuts to the welfare state and the public sector. With the resulting increase in inequalities, unemployment and poverty, a democratic crisis was generated in these countries, visible in the exponential increase in protests by citizens and the simultaneous decrease in trust in institutions.

This study by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos looks at four dimensions of political culture in these countries:

• trust in national political institutions such as parliament, the government and political parties
• satisfaction with democracy and interest in politics
• trust in the media
• trust in and satisfaction with the European Union

Through this study, Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos seeks to contribute to a better and more in-depth understanding of our country's political culture, as well as the reasons that may explain it.