Support for Democracy in Mexico: A Critical-Liberal Desire for Democracy?

Critical-liberal desires for democracy indicate that citizens' critical assessments of the political system are inspired by their expectations to live under a regime that guarantees democratic rights and freedoms. This study analyzes the critical-liberal desires for democracy in Mexico, a case where the performance of an emerging democracy has motivated widespread political dissatisfaction. By using data from the World Values Survey (wvs), this article shows that critical-liberal desires for democracy are weaker than initially expected, and they perform a limited role in enlightening democratic aspirations. The results suggest that in emerging and deficient democracies, even when political dissatisfaction with the performance of the regime is extensive, weak critical-liberal desires may fail to motivate the collective demands to improve the regime's guarantee of political freedoms and rights.