Western dissatisfaction with the development of democracy

According to a major survey conducted by Ipsos among nearly 10,000 voters in nine countries – eight in Europe plus the USA – about half are dissatisfied with how democracy functions. Sweden stands out in terms of trust in the democratic system.

Voters across the Western world are concerned about the threats to democracy and worry that extremist parties, fake news, and corruption will undermine elections. That’s how Politico summarizes the results of a new survey.

Among the countries, Sweden stands out – here, most people believe that democratic politics work well. In other countries, however, there is a clear majority concerned about the risks to their self-governing systems over the next five years.

“There is widespread concern about how democracy functions, where people feel unrepresented, especially by their national governments,” says Gideon Skinner, senior head of British politics at Ipsos, to Politico.

“There are particular concerns about the effects of fake news, disinformation, lack of accountability for politicians, and extremism. In most countries, there is a desire for radical change.”

Widespread dissatisfaction

On average, 45 percent of those surveyed in the UK, France, the USA, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Poland are dissatisfied with how democracy functions.

Voters on the far ends – regardless of right or left – were more likely to view the development of democracy negatively.

In none of the nine countries did a majority of voters consider their national government to represent their views well. Voters in Croatia and the UK were least likely to agree that their governments represented them effectively, with only 23 percent.

In all countries in the survey except Poland, which had a high turnout in the presidential election this year, more voters said that how democracy functions had deteriorated over the past five years than had improved.

Concern for the coming years

Voters in France (86 percent) and Spain (80 percent) were most concerned about what the next five years would mean for their democratic system. Respondents identified the biggest risks to democracy as disinformation, corruption, lack of accountability for politicians, and the emergence of extremist politics.

Overall, most respondents still strongly supported democratic ideals, although more than half (51 percent) in Croatia said that it was only worth keeping democracy if it provided a good quality of life.

Ipsos found that respondents supported measures to protect democracy, especially laws and enforcement to combat corruption, protect the independence of the courts, improve civic education in schools, and regulations against fake news and so-called hate propaganda on social media.