The Democracy Barometers (Part II): Surveying South Asia

Most South Asians believe that democracy is suitable for their country and prefer democracy over authoritarianism. While support for the institutional form of democracy is determined by access to education, media exposure, the experience of living under democratic conditions, support for the idea of democracy cuts across social barriers. The more active one is in politics, the more likely one is to support democracy; and the higher the degree of one’s participation from being a one-time voter to a regular voter to a participant in nonelectoral political activity and finally to being a member of political organization’s the higher is likely to be one’s support for democratic governance.