Informed distrusting democrats: The effects of citizen participation Ugandan constitution-making
Moehler, Devra Coren;
PhD Dissertation
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (2003)
In 1988, Uganda embarked on an innovative constitution-making process that involved extensive citizen participation. South Africa, Eritrea, Fiji, and Albania followed with analogous programs. Currently, reformers in other democratizing states are calling for participatory constitution-making as a constructive step towards building a democratic political culture. The Ugandan program provides a unique ‘natural experiment’ from which to observe the influence of participation on political attitudes, knowledge, and behavior.
This dissertation analyzes the effects of public participation in the Ugandan constitution-making process. Accounting for the possibility of reciprocal relationships, I test the hypotheses that participation fosters attachment to democratic principles, enhances feelings of civic competence, heightens trust in government, and builds support for the constitution. My research shows that participation in a new democracy can create �distrusting democrats�; citizens who are democratic in their attitudes but suspicious of their government institutions. I argue that participation affects trust by enhancing political knowledge and by altering the standards against which individuals judge their government. In developing democracies, participation gives citizens a new set of tools for evaluating their imperfectly performing institutions.
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