Pandemic and attitudes towards the political system. Have preferences for democracy and authoritarianism changed?
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Abstract
In this article we examine whether support for democracy has diminished and the appealing of authoritarian forms of government has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. In addition, we try to identify the social categories and ideological segments in which these changes in attitudes have been more prominent. We analyze data from two CIS barometers, from December 2019 and February 2021. Estimating multinomial logit models, we find a significant decrease in the legitimacy of democracy and an increase in indifference about the best form of government. The magnitude of these changes varies considerably between different social and political segments, reaching its maximum intensity in the youngest people. Although the aggregate change is modest, age differences and the accumulation of the impact of crisis situations in a short period of time open up the possibility of a long-term erosion of democratic support.
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