The Danish effect: when citizens agree with public policy, they’re satisfied with democracy too

Inevitably, most of the people who didn’t vote for the party or parties in power will be less happy with the policies they implement. But in a survey of European countries, Christian Stecker and Markus Tausendpfund found this dissatisfaction extends to their opinion of the state of democracy in general, particularly when the government’s policies on redistribution and EU integration deviate greatly from their own. And while some countries do well when it comes to overall satisfaction – such as Sweden and Denmark – others, like Bulgaria, fare much worse