ABSTRACT
Transitions to democracy are good settings to observe possible changes of beliefs, attitudes and values. This paper analyzes shifts in democratic beliefs during Argentine political transition towards democracy. Through the analysis of different surveys in the period 1982–8 diverse patterns concerning two sets of democratic attitudes were observed. Those dealing with participatory democracy proved to be not only highly supported but also stable throughout the period. On the other hand the libertarian orientations exhibit lower consensus and proved to be much more unstable. They grew at the beginning of the transition but later a regression to pre-transition levels took place, associated with the increase of socio-economic discontent. Also a relationship between less libertarian democratic attitudes and lower socio-economic levels was observed.
The findings call into question the socialization effects of democratic institutions during relatively short periods in a context of economic crisis and rising discontent.
