Title
Democracy as a Legitimizing Ideology.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2015
Journal Title
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
Volume
21
Issue
4
Abstract
Democracy as an abstract belief system bestows rights to individuals and serves egalitarian principles. However, the language of democracy may be used to justify harmful treatment of others in the world. Data from 3 representative samples of adults are presented demonstrating that satisfaction with and support for democracy are associated with support for militarism, a hierarchy-maintaining tool, among those who oppose equality compared with those who support equality. Furthermore, these data highlight the importance of political (Study 2) and historical (Study 3) contexts, demonstrating that democracy is associated with militarism particularly when people oppose equality, in contexts in which democracy is especially valued, and at historical moments when it is militarily expedient (i.e., wartime). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)
Recommended Citation
Henry, P. J.; Wetherell, Geoffrey; and Brandt, Mark J., "Democracy as a Legitimizing Ideology." (2015). Psychology Faculty Publications. 28.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/psych_fac_pub/28