Hierarchies of Political Fear: Democratic Legitimacy under Chronic Insecurity - Evidence from Burkina Faso

Why does democracy lose credibility under chronic insecurity? Existing accounts of democratic backsliding emphasise authoritarian attitudes, institutional weakness, or elite manipulation. This article advances the Hierarchical Fear Theory (HFT), arguing that democratic legitimacy depends on the ordering of competing political fears. Political fear is conceptualised not as an irrational emotion but as a structured anticipation of harm that becomes hierarchically ranked in specific contexts. When insecurity intensifies, fears of physical survival, state collapse, and symbolic disappearance can displace fear of arbitrariness—the liberal concern with unchecked power. Using Burkina Faso as a critical case and drawing on theory-driven analysis and Afrobarometer trends, the article shows how chronic violence reordered the hierarchy of fears, shifting legitimacy from procedural constraint to protective effectiveness. Democratic institutions are consequently evaluated instrumentally rather than intrinsically, generating conditional support for concentrated authority. The findings offer a non-moralising, context-sensitive explanation of democratic erosion with implications for other conflict-affected and fragile democracies.