Regime Type, Democratic Quality and the Participation of Resource-Rich Citizens

This chapter turns to the question of why resource-rich voters are less likely to vote, focusing specifically on democratic quality. With the quality of democracy varying across the region, I contend that this creates barriers to political participationpolitical participationbarriers to, affecting both resource-rich and resource-poor citizens in almost the same way. Still, I argue that resource-rich citizensresource-rich voterspolitical system judgement will be more affected than resource-poor citizens when the quality of democracy is low, as higher social status, notably education, allows one to effectively process complex information to judge the political system. Thus, with socioeconomic status an essential indicator of how citizens evaluate their political system, this chapter argues that democratic quality should modify the relationship between socioeconomic status and voting in Africa. Thus, drawing on multiple rounds of the Afrobarometer and a measure of quality democracy derived from Polity IV, the chapter tests different mechanisms underpinning this argument. Empirically, the chapter uncovers that resource-rich voters in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be interested in politics and follow the news, support democratic values and be more critical of the government. Still, they are less likely to vote in illiberal regimes, which could be attributed to their stringer evaluation of the democratic quality and views on democracy.