ABSTRACT
In the wave of democratization that arose in the mid 1970s, many countries around the globe attempted the transition to democracy (Huntington 1991). Since then, scholarly interest has focused on how these countries can consolidate their newly established democratic systems. For a new democracy to be considered consolidated, it is generally argued that it needs at least a majority of its citizens to share the belief that democracy is the best or the least evil system. This commitment in the form of popular support for democratic principles and as public satisfaction with democracy in practice plays an important role in the process of democratic consolidation of these countries (Bratton and Mattes 2001; Diamond 1999; Rose, Mishler, and Haerpfer 1998).
