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Perceived Democraticness of Parties From Citizens' Perspectives: Evidence From Canada
Ka Ming Chan1, Laura B Stephenson2,3,4
1School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Political Studies
|February 9, 2026
Summary
Voters perceive their own political party as more democratic than others, a bias known as motivated reasoning. This perception remains strong even when presented with evidence of undemocratic behavior, especially concerning out-parties.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Scholarly assessments of political parties often categorize them as democratic or undemocratic based on political pluralism.
- Citizen perceptions of party commitment to democratic norms are understudied and their malleability is unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how citizens perceive political parties' commitment to democratic norms.
- To determine if these perceptions are susceptible to change, particularly in response to information about undemocratic behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from a nationally representative sample in Canada.
- Employed an experimental design leveraging the 2022 Canadian trucker convoy to prime respondents about party behavior.
- Applied the motivated reasoning framework to analyze citizen perceptions.
Main Results:
- Voters consistently exhibit motivated reasoning, viewing their in-party more favorably regarding democratic norms than out-parties.
- Experimental results showed asymmetrical information updating: in-party perceptions remained stable, while out-party perceptions became more negative when linked to strong convoy opinions.
Conclusions:
- Citizen perceptions of party adherence to democratic norms are shaped by motivated reasoning and are resistant to change.
- Findings contribute to the understanding of the democratic recession literature by highlighting the role of motivated reasoning in maintaining partisan perceptions despite evidence of undemocratic actions.
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