American Perceptions of Democracy and Capitalism: The Impact of the 2008 Financial Crisis

Abstract

This thesis studies public opinion surrounding the 2008 Financial Crisis in order to determine the effect of the Crisis on American perceptions of democracy and capitalism. First, this thesis notes the varying definitions of democracy and capitalism at play in American society and offers a brief overview of the causes, events, and consequences of the 2008 Financial Crisis. Subsequently, this thesis examines the current academic discourse on the American institutions of democracy and capitalism and trends in the American attitude toward these ideals over time. In describing two additional financial crises in American history, this study suggests that financial crises call into question American perceptions of democracy and capitalism because of the focus crises bring to government economic interventionism. An examination of preexisting survey data from public opinions polls then demonstrates a relationship between the 2008 Financial Crisis and the ensuing fracturing of American support for democracy and capitalism. This analysis of responses to financial crises prepares readers for the survey experiment portion of this thesis, which hypothesizes that an individual’s stance on government interventionism influences her sentiments on American institutions in the midst of financial crises. This thesis then conducts a novel survey experiment that advances the academic discourse by studying the influence of interventionist or non-interventionist rhetoric, analyzing demographic cleavages in opinion, and establishing pervasive trends more than a decade after 2008. Following a discussion of the results of this new survey experiment, this thesis concludes by reiterating the long-term relevance and importance of the negative shift in American perceptions of democracy and capitalism and by questioning the implications of this shift on central American values after the 2008 Financial Crisis.