ABSTRACT
It takes more for a country to be truly democratic than simply meeting the formal requirements of a well-functioning democratic system. Formally, these requirements (Dahl 2000) are met by Suriname: members of parliament are elected who control and legitimise government decisions; on regular occasions citizens can speak out freely and easily at fair elections; civil rights such as active and passive suffrage exist; and there is freedom of speech and association. These are external characteristics that do not say much about the political culture (collective opinions, attitudes and values of individuals about politics) and the quality of democracy and its most important institutions like parliament, political parties and government. This quality is connected with, among other things, the trust of the population in political institutions and politicians. This trust is of eminent importance for the legitimacy of a democratic political system: a democracy cannot function without support because when on a large scale citizens are dissatisfied with the way in which political institutions operate, the legitimacy of the system is at stake.
