Article summary
This study asks whether citizens in consolidated European democracies have become less supportive of democracy and whether any decline is widespread or concentrated in specific age groups or countries. Using new cross‑national survey evidence from 18 European countries (1981–2018), the authors disentangle age, cohort and period effects and report results from pre‑registered analyses to reduce selective reporting. The paper documents continued overall endorsement of self‑governance, while identifying country‑specific signs that some younger cohorts express weaker forms of democratic support.