Why top politicians are pessimistic or optimistic about democracy and its evolution

Amid widespread concerns about the crisis of democracy, scant scholarly attention has been given to the views of elite politicians who are at the helm of democracy and, for instance, have the ability to halt democratic erosion and improve citizens’ support for democracy. In this paper we addresses this important gap by investigating whether and why top politicians in Belgium and Australia are optimistic or pessimistic about democracy and its evolution. Drawing on 44 in-depth interviews with party leaders and ministers, we conduct a qualitative content analysis to examine the reasons behind elites’ optimism or pessimism about how “their” democracy is evolving. From their reflections, we learn that there is quite some variation in politicians’ views but that many, especially in Belgium, are pessimistic about how democracy evolves. The main source of pessimism stems from the tension between citizens’ expectations and politicians’ ability to deliver on these expectations. Elites say that politicians these days tend to overpromise what they can deliver, and citizens–fueled by (social) media and extremist opposition forces–are viewed as harboring unrealistic expectations. Yet, while top politicians are ultimately responsible for shaping democracy, they do not seem to take responsibility for halting the crisis of democracy.