How does democratic decline during the formative years shape later attitudes? Its consequences depend on the democratic environment in which citizens are socialized. Decline should be more consequential in stronger democracies, where institutions provide a baseline and there is more democracy to lose. Using data from nearly 400,000 respondents in 27 countries, we link later attitudes to democratic conditions experienced between ages 15 and 20, covering cohorts socialized from the postwar period to the present. Results show that formative decline is associated with lower support for democracy as the formative democratic environment strengthens. Democratic improvement produces no corresponding pattern. We find no comparable associations for institutional trust or satisfaction with democratic performance. The results suggest that democratic erosion leaves a lasting, asymmetric legacy concentrated in generalized regime support rather than contemporary performance evaluations, extending research on democratic learning from stable regimes and discrete transitions to gradual institutional deterioration.