Democracy’s appeal is slipping as nations across much of the world hold elections, a poll finds

Representative democracy remains a favored system of governance worldwide, but its appeal is waning on the eve of elections in much of the world, according to a survey of 24 democratic countries by the Pew Research Center released Wednesday.

While a median of 77% in the 24 countries surveyed said representative democracy was a “good” system of government, higher than any other alternative, a median of 59% told pollsters they were dissatisfied with the way democracy was being implemented in their own country. country worked. In the 22 countries where 2017 data was available, the last time Pew asked about democracy, the share describing democracy as a “very good” system had fallen in half.

“People like representative democracy. But you see here in many different ways that people are really frustrated with its performance,” said Richard Wike, director of Pew’s Global Attitudes survey. “There is a real divide between people and their representatives.”

Across the 24 countries – all democracies – an average of 74% said they don’t believe elected officials care what people like them think. Only ten of the 24 national leaders in the survey received favorable ratings from half or more of the public.

But the alternatives were seen as even worse. Only six opposition leaders received favorable reviews, and an average of 42% of respondents said no political party in their country represented their position. People in the political center were more likely to indicate that they did not feel that a party represented their views.

The poll comes as the world’s democracies prepare for a huge year, with elections scheduled in more than 50 countries representing half the world’s population. That includes the Indian elections this spring, the European Union-wide elections in June and the presidential elections in November in the United States.

The vote comes as support for more authoritarian forms of government is increasing. The Pew survey shows that in eight of the countries surveyed, support for a “strong leader” who can make decisions without judicial or legislative interference has increased since 2017.

Those countries included Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Kenya and Argentina, where Javier Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” whose supporters call him “the madman,” won that country’s presidential election in November after the Pew study was completed . earlier last year. Overall, just under a third in the countries surveyed generally supported some kind of authoritarian system.

Support for a strong leader also increased in India, which stood out as the country with the highest support for this form of government, with 67% of respondents considering it a good system, up 12% from when Pew asked for it. the question in 2017.

India’s popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticized for eroding the country’s democratic and secular traditions with his Hindu nationalist party. But the country’s residents also reported high levels of satisfaction with democracy in the poll, and Wike said the two factors are intertwined in India.

“These authoritarian models have more support there,” Wike said. “That gives the authorities a base of public support on which they can build.”

The poll found that support for a strong leader rose most in Mexico, where it rose 23% since 2017. At the same time, Mexico was one of three countries where support for democracy increased – Brazil and Poland were the other two.

Support for more authoritarian leadership tended to be strongest among those with lower education and income levels, as well as among those on the ideological right. Poorer countries registered more support for autocratic systems, including military rule. The military’s control over governance was also supported by about a third of all residents of eight of what Pew called more “middle-income countries,” such as Mexico, India, Indonesia and South Africa. Overall, however, military rule is the least popular form of government, with a median of only 15% supporting it.

The US is an outlier in several categories, including support for more autocratic systems.

It was the richest country surveyed, and while support for autocratic systems was well below majority levels – only 15% support military rule and 26% support a strong leadership system – it was higher than half of the other countries in the poll.

That’s because former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s leading candidate for the presidential nomination, has continued to speak warmly about authoritarian leaders such as China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Wike said the US is also notable for its polarization over whether more diverse representation would improve the country’s policies. An average of 50% across the countries surveyed believe that policies would improve if more women were elected, while in the US the share was only 42%.

Across the countries surveyed, an average of 46% believed that electing more younger adults would improve policy, while in the US the share was 38%, the second lowest ever after Japan. The US also recorded the largest ideological divide in this area, with seven in 10 liberals saying younger leaders would improve conditions, while only two in 10 conservatives agreed.

While representative democracy was the most popular system, direct democracy, in which citizens vote for themselves on important issues, followed closely behind, with an average of 70% saying this would be a good way to govern their country. Pew also found an increase in support for a system run by experts rather than elected officials, with a median of 58% supporting that model.

Pew surveyed 30,861 people in 24 countries between February and May 2023. The margin of error differed per country.