A plea for democracy from a psychological perspective
Democracy is under pressure worldwide. In a recent post , I expressed my concern about whether the democratic constitutional state is in good hands with the new Dutch government. For a long time, I had the impression that many people thought and understood that democracy was good. But in personal conversations, I have noticed in recent years that people find it difficult to give specific and substantiated answers to the question, “Is a democracy better than a dictatorship, and if so, why?” I think it would be useful to consider the psychological benefits that democratic systems offer compared to autocratic regimes.