Rethinking democratic dissatisfaction: a citizen-centred evaluation of input, throughput, and output legitimacy of the political system

In recent decades, scholars have underlined the decline in democratic support and satisfaction among citizens. To study such a decline, researchers typically mobilize classic survey items asked in comparative surveys such as support for democracy and satisfaction with democracy. This research explores another path to move beyond these items to better grasp the subject of democratic dissatisfaction among citizens. Specifically, the research explores the extent to which citizens evaluate the input, throughput, and output of their political system differently. Using Latent Profile Analysis on data from Belgium, the findings show that a significant portion of citizens tend to assess the input/throughput/output of the political system distinctly. These results suggest that reforms aimed at reducing democratic dissatisfaction could be more effectively targeted by focusing on specific dimensions of the political system.