Losers’ Consent or Non-Voter Consent? Satisfaction with Democracy in East Asia

Abstract

How do electoral outcomes influence views on democracy among East Asian countries? A sizable literature assesses differences between electoral winners and losers, but few cover East Asian cases. Using cross-national survey data from the Asian Barometer (ABS), this article analyzes the extent to which losers are less satisfied with democracy. Unlike much of the literature, this analysis also addresses a third category: those that did not vote. Empirical analyses controlling for demographic and institutional factors find that both losers and non-voters consistently have lower evaluations of democracy than winners, while losers appear to have less satisfaction than non-voters.