Democratic environment in higher education: The case of a Turkish public university

•Students find their university environment neither highly democratic nor undemocratic.•Sense of security is an essential aspect characterizing a democratic university environment.•Certain variables have significant effects on perception of democratic university environment. This study describes the expectations of undergraduate students regarding the characteristics of a democratic university environment. It then goes on to explore whether there are any significant differences among the dimensions of democratic university environment, namely respect for ideas, participation in decision-making, and promotion of tolerance. Last, it examines the effects of certain variables (gender, student club attendance, newspaper reading, and home residence) on student perceptions of their university environment. The results showed that there was a significant difference among three dimensions of democratic university environment. In addition, gender, student club attendance, and home residence had significant effects on differing dependent variables.