Between democracy and authoritarian leadership: institutional trust, media consumption, and political attitudes in India

Amid an increasingly complex political landscape in many modern democracies, citizens’ simultaneous support for both democratic and authoritarian leadership within democratic systems has puzzled scholars. Yet, the underlying drivers of these seemingly contradictory preferences are not well understood, particularly the roles of institutional trust, media consumption, and regional variation. This study examines these dynamics in India across national and subnational contexts. We find that institutional trust shapes regime preferences in nuanced ways: trust in government and the military is positively associated with democratic support and reduces receptiveness to authoritarian leadership, while trust in courts exhibits a more ambivalent role, reinforcing democratic support in some contexts but correlating with pro-authoritarian attitudes elsewhere. Media consumption also shapes these preferences in complex ways, with social and traditional media influencing democratic and authoritarian inclinations differently depending on context. These findings advance the debates on democratic backsliding by illustrating how political attitudes are shaped not only by governance performance but also by shifting narratives in media and institutional trust. By integrating insights from both national and subnational levels, this study highlights the uneven trajectory of democratic resilience and the potential for hybrid political preferences in emerging democracies.