Ryan Carlin | The Popularity of the Powerful: Leader Approval Ratings and the Health of Democracy

Leader approval ratings are widely calculated across many countries. How does the popularity of an elected leader matter for the quality of democracy? Do leaders need to have high approval ratings to be successful? Are leaders with low approval ratings likely to lose their next election? What do approval ratings measure in authoritarian countries? This talk will examine the context and effects of leader approval ratings around the world and how they help us understand the health of a government system.
Ryan Carlin is a professor of Political Science at Georgia State University, where he is also the Director for the Center for Human Rights and Democracy. A specialist in Latin American politics, he has done extensive work on the Executive Approval Project, which collects and examines data on the approval ratings of government leaders. He has published extensively on public opinion, populism, and democratic legitimacy.
Part of the Kennedy Center's winter 2024 lecture series, "Authoritarianism and Its Discontents."