The Effect of the Arab Spring on Public Democracy

Abstract

Using public opinion data from the Arab Barometer, we examine how the attitudes toward democracy held by ordinary citizens were affected in the first months following the fall of Mubarak in Egypt. We find that that the there was a drop in stated support for democracy but that concerns about potential problems with democracy also declined. Thus, we conclude that a key outcome of the Arab Spring is that support for democracy has decreased slightly but that commitment to democracy has been strengthened. In addition to shedding light on the impact of the Arab Spring on citizen attitudes, at least in the short run, these findings also offer testable insights about abrupt political transitions more generally.

Keywords: Arab Spring, Public Opinion, Democratization, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon