Process / pipelinePolitical Values

Democratic Values Scale

The Democratic Values Scale measures commitment to core principles of democratic governance including free speech, rule of law, fair elections, protection of minorities, and transparent institutions. Rather than measuring support for democracy as a system (which is nearly universal in principle), it captures depth of commitment to democratic norms, tolerance for dissent, and willingness to protect rights of political opponents. Developed by comparative political scientists including Dalton, Klingemann, and Welzel, it reveals psychological foundations of democratic stability.

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Sources

  1. Dalton, R. J. (2004). Democratic challenges, democratic choices: The erosion of political support in advanced industrial democracies. Oxford University Press. link
  2. Klingemann, H. D. (1999). Mapping political support in the 1990s: A global analysis. In P. Norris (Ed.), Critical citizens: Global support for democratic government (pp. 31-56). Oxford University Press. link
  3. Welzel, C., & Inglehart, R. (2015). Banyan model of egalitarianism and hierarchy: The cultural evolution of political values. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(1), 83-112. DOI: 10.1177/0022022114551054

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Referenced by

ScholarGateDemocratic Values Scale (Democratic Norms and Values Assessment Scale). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/political-sociology/democratic-values-scale