This study uses 1990 Canadian national survey data to investigate public beliefs about democracy and how these affect satisfaction with the opera tion of an existing democratic political system. Confirmatory factor analyses reveal that conceptions of democracy are structured in terms of four factors- security, opportunities, elections-capitalism, and equality of group influence. All four factors affect levels of democracy satisfaction, controlling for several other influential variables. Consistent with the long-standing, but largely un tested, congruence hypothesis, Canadians whose beliefs about democracy tend to be consistent with the realities of political life in their country are more satisfied than are those whose beliefs accord less well with prevailing practices.
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