Do Voters and Candidates Share the Same Views on Democracy? Support for and Satisfaction with Democracy in Switzerland

Abstract The perceived “crisis of democracy” has received much attention in recent scholarly and societal debates. Yet much of the focus has been on democratic attitudes of citizens. We only know little about the democracy orientations of political candidates, and whether voter and candidate views on democracy are congruent. Using 2023 Swiss Election Study (Selects) data – collected among citizens and political candidates – we examine voter‐elite congruence of attitudes and perceptions of democracy. The results show that democracy support and satisfaction vary by age, sometimes gender, and, most importantly, by partisanship. While support for and satisfaction with democracy are overall strong among Swiss voters and candidates, we find that candidates are consistently more supportive of and satisfied with democracy than voters. Since the views of political elites influence public opinion, we interpret this result as a positive sign for the future of Swiss democracy.