Political Ideology and Political Belief: An Analysis of World Values Survey

Political ideology and political beliefs are strongly related to each other. Using the World Values Survey (2017–2022), we analysed 57 countries, categorized by their democratic level according to V-Dem. We find that since 1981-84, there has been an increment in the percentage of individuals (by more than 10%) who can be termed ‘radical’. Applying the Probit model, which we have used for the four groups of countries, this paper finds that individuals from any categorized groups have pro-democracy beliefs irrespective of their ideology. i.e., their political ideology and positioning in the country they belong to do not impact their political beliefs much. For example, individuals with reformist or conservative inclinations (compared to radical ones) prefer a democratic system over a theocratic state or army rule. The study posits that democratic political ideals have deepened among individuals regardless of their country’s democratic status.