Against the backdrop of debates about migrant integration in Western countries, this article examines the extent to which liberal democratic values differ between migrants and non-migrants in Europe and whether potential differences can be explained by socialisation in different political contexts. We measure specific values of liberal democracies using data from the European Social Survey, covering a large number of countries, and from the German Integration Barometer, covering a representative sample of migrants from different countries of origin. This allows us to investigate how structural political socialisation and indoctrination in more or less democratic regimes affect the democratic values of migrants and to what extent possible differences in values diminish when migrants from non-democratic countries settle in democratic countries. The analyses show that all three – non-migrants, migrants from more democratic countries, and migrants from less democratic countries – have high levels of liberal democratic values. At this elevated level, we additionally observe that longer periods of socialisation in less democratic countries of origin reduce, and longer periods in more democratic countries of destination increase, migrants’ support for liberal democratic values. Thus, we find support for socialisation and adaptation processes among immigrants in Europe, but these effects are relatively small.

The transition to democracy in Chile, which took place under the rules established in the authoritarian constitution, led political parties and voters to align along an authoritarian/democratic divide. In the campaign for the constitutional plebiscite in 2022, some of those in favor of a new constitution linked their position to democratic values and labeled those opposed to the new draft as lacking democratic values. Many of those opposed to the new constitution purposely distanced themselves from the authoritarian legacy. We rely on a pre-electoral poll to explore democratic values in the vote choice in the plebiscite. When factoring for economic perceptions, ideological identification, and sociodemographic traits, while holding authoritarian values was positively associated with voting Reject, expressing democratic values had a weak association with voting Approve. The authoritarian/democratic divide in the party system in the early 1990s was not a relevant determinant of vote choice in the 2022 plebiscite.

Many studies have been conducted on the link between Confucianism and democratic values in East Asia, but they have failed to account for the complex character of Confucianism and the possible impact of political systems. This study re-measures Confucian values into four dimensions—authoritarianism, familialism, collectivism, and harmoniousness—based on data from the fourth wave of the Asian Barometer survey. It then uses a multi-layer linear regression model to examine the relationship between the Confucian cultural values and the democratic values held by people in six East Asian societies at both the macro and micro levels. The findings demonstrate an asymmetrical pattern in the relationship between the various dimensions of Confucian cultural values and the democratic values of East Asia, collectivist values do not affect democratic values, while familial and authoritarian values have a significant and negative correlation with democratic values. Harmonious values have a significant and positive correlation with democratic values. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation between democratic institutions and the democratic values, and the relationship between the values of harmoniousness and collectivism and democratic values varies across countries with different political systems. This offers insightful material for reflection as we reconsider the connection between Confucianism and democracy in East Asia.

How should education be structured to most effectively increase civic outcomes such as political knowledge and democratic values? We present results from a field experiment in which we compare the effects of deliberative education and traditional teacher-centered education. The study is the largest field experiment on deliberative education to date and involved more than 1,200 students in 59 classrooms. We test the effects on four forms of civic competence: political knowledge, political interest, democratic values, and political discussion. In contrast to previous research, we find little evidence that deliberative education significantly increases civic competence.

Can crime victimization increase support for iron-fist crime-reduction policies? It is difficult to assess the political effects of crime, mainly because of the presence of unmeasured confounders. This study uses panel data from Brazil and strategies for reducing sensitivity to hidden biases to study how crime victims update their policy preferences. It also examines survey data from eighteen Latin American countries to improve the external validity of the findings. The results show that crime victims are more likely to support iron-fist or strong-arm measures to reduce crime, such as allowing state repression. Affected citizens are also found to value democracy less, which might explain their willingness to accept the erosion of basic rights in favor of radical measures to combat delinquency. These findings reveal that exposure to crime can change what people think the state should be allowed to do, which can have important political implications.

In 1998, the three major government funding councils put in place the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS) to regulate all research involving humans in Canada conducted at institutions funded by the councils. This article examines the process of developing the TCPS, a historic and very important document in Canada's research ethics landscape, and the application of the democratic values of legitimacy, transparency, representation, accountability, and community engagement in that process. The authors argue that efforts were made to ensure basic democratic values in the process but that these attempts should have been taken farther. This examination is a timely exercise in light of the new draft now being prepared to replace the current version of the TCPS. The authors also consider this ongoing process of establishing a new edition and reflect on lessons to be learned.