Abstract This study investigates the association between regime type, political trust, and subjective well-being (SWB) in 78 countries. Differently from previous works, democracy was conceptualized in terms of a multidimensional model (i.e., regime type), rather than a bipolar continuum ranging from authoritarian regimes to full democracies. The first question was raised as to whether regime characteristics would be nonlinearly related to SWB. A second question was examined as to whether political trust could moderate the relationship between regime type and well-being, such that under conditions of high or low trust in the government the differences in well-being across the type of regimes would be reduced. Data from the European Values Study as well as from the World Value Survey were used. Moreover, regime types were defined according to the Varieties of Democracy as well as the Economist Intelligence Unit. Multilevel analyses revealed that life satisfaction scores were lower for electoral autocracy compared to closed autocracy and liberal democracy. Moreover, happiness scores were significantly higher for full democracies compared to authoritarian regimes and flawed democracies. Finally, political trust moderated the association between regime type and SWB. Specifically, at higher or lower levels of political trust, the relationship between regime type and well-being tended to decrease. Overall, the findings support the conclusion that the relationship between democracy and subjective well‐being is nonlinear, and that the role of political trust is as important as the role of democracy. 

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The Association between Subjective Well-being and Regime Type across 78 countries: the moderating role of Political Trust

Objective: Tolerance is considered one of the most important values in any society. The present study aimed to validate the Tolerance Index on the Saudi society. Method: A 2019 Tolerance Index (56 items) by the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue was used. A total of 1071 participants completed the survey. The sample was randomly selected using geographical sampling. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to validate the Tolerance Index. Result: The principal components analysis, along with the orthogonal rotation matrix (Varimax rotation) revealed that 35 items of the Tolerance Index were loaded on six main factors: twelve items were loaded onto two social and cultural factors; eight items were loaded onto two economic factors; four items were loaded onto one political factor; and 11 items were loaded onto one religious factor. Conclusion: The Tolerance Index is valid and is a reliable index that can be used in the Saudi society.

/pdf/index-of-tolerance-values-of-saudi-society-individuals-qupckvny.pdf

Index of Tolerance Values of Saudi Society Individuals: Methodological Construct and Conceptual Framework

The Relationship Between Democracy and Subjective Well-Being as a Function of Anti-Democratic Attitudes: a Multilevel Analysis of 78 Countries Worldwide

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11482-021-10013-z.pdf

Gabriele Prati

Papers

The Relationship Between Political Participation and Life Satisfaction Depends on Preference for Non-Democratic Solutions