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ABSTRACT: What do people in the Arab world have in mind when they voice support for “democracy ” and what shapes these conceptions of democracy? While some in this region prioritize rules and procedures like elections and free speech in their conceptions of democracy, many see the substantive outcomes democracy might produce as more essential. We find that individual-level characteristics associated with the likelihood that a person is exposed to procedural conceptions of democracy, as well as factors that may lead individuals to see reduction in poverty and inequality as particularly desirable explain variation in how people in this region think about democracy. We also find that the individual-level correlates of how people conceive of democracy are largely consistent across the populations we examine. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the prospects for lasting democratic institutions in this region and the policies that may encourage citizen commitment to democratic institutions. 2 Although the concept of democracy is multifaceted, most formal definitions focus on characteristics of government institutions and procedures. Democracies are typically thought of, first and foremost, as nations where citizens have regular opportunities to shape policy b