ABSTRACT
The Arab Spring experience suggests that dissatisfaction with an authoritarian government and corruption fuel popular demand for democracy. Using Arab Barometer data from 38 surveys in fourteen nations (2006–2016), we find that perceived corruption control, freer elections, and satisfaction with the nondemocratic government are positively related to support for democracy. To explain this link, we draw on literature that suggests that perceived corruption undermines regime legitimacy and fosters ambivalence about whether transparency would improve if free elections were implemented. Receiving clientelistic services does not impact support for democracy, suggesting that it functions as a form of system performance.
