Disenchantment with democracy can arise from several sources that reflect very different priorities and values. As researchers ponder the significance of declining satisfaction with democracy (SWD), it is important to distinguish between dissatisfaction that stems from a weak commitment to democratic ideals paired with an openness to populism or non-democratic rule and dissatisfaction that stems from a strong commitment to democratic ideals paired with disappointment due to perceptions of corruption and democratic dysfunction. Conflation of these two types of dissatisfaction could lead us to overestimate the extent of democratic disenchantment and underestimate support for effective democratic reform. Using data from round 6 of the European Social Survey, this presentation explores whether citizens who place themselves on the dismal side of SWD measures have very different reasons for being there. The presentation examines the extent of heterogeneity among those with low SWD scores to determine (1) the proportion of democratic idealists in 29 European countries and (2) the attitudes, political behaviors and demographic characteristics that distinguish the democratic idealists from the pessimists. The findings indicate that scores for SWD correspond well with the measured gaps between the ideal components of democracy and respondents’ perceptions of how democracy actually works in their home countries. Moreover, the proportion of dissatisfied democratic idealists in each country appears to be related to each country’s  number of civic organizations.