Renewing Democracy: How Exposure to Electoral Turnovers Reinforce Citizen Democratic Support

A prevailing narrative argues that citizens who live under democratic rule take it for granted, potentially leading to democratic backsliding. This paper advances a more optimistic perspective, arguing that electoral turnovers, i.e., elections that displace the head of government, reinforce democratic support. To test this argument, I aggregate multiple international surveys, covering over 300,000 respondents from 76 countries, match them with a century’s worth of electoral data, and identify the national electoral turnovers to which each respondent has been exposed throughout their life. Cohort analysis shows that exposure to turnovers, especially the first ones, has a positive and lasting effect on democratic support. Further analysis reveals that the effect is positive in a wide range of contexts but is strongest among citizens who have always lived in a democracy. This finding suggests that frequent electoral turnovers are important to renew citizens’ support for democracy.