The concept of democracy is a popular one globally, but when it comes to implementation the will is often not as strong.
These are the findings of a new report by the Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on politics, policy, journalism, internet, science, religion, tech, public life, and global trends. It analysed democratic values and satisfaction in 34 countries, drilling down into societies views on elected officials, voting, and whether the state is run for the benefit of all, or just a few.
Respondents included citizens from Africa, Latin America, Middle East, North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. While the Western Balkans were not included in the survey, the trends that were identified were similar across the world and in every region.
The results of the survey mirrored similar research in the field and found that democracy, in general, is in decline, resulting in phrases such as “democratic backsliding” and “democratic recession” being coined. While democracy remains a popular idea among citizens, many are unhappy with how democracy is currently operating.
The main driver behind dissatisfaction with democracy is frustration with the political elites with 64% of respondents believing that elected officials do not care what people like them think.
In terms of what are the most important features of a proper democracy, citizens across the world identified that a fair judiciary (82%)is the number one priority. Second was gender equality (74%) and third was freedom of religion (68%). The least important aspects of democracy according to the report were internet freedom (59%), the right of human rights groups to operate freely (55%) and the freedom of opposition political parties to operate freely (54%).
Women having the same rights as men is one of the most widely supported values among both men and women across most of the countries surveyed. In some countries, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, gender equality is seen as more important among women than men. In Sweden (96%), UK (92%) and the Netherlands (92%) women having the same rights as men was deemed as incredibly important to democracy.
The support for freedom of speech grew significantly, especially in countries where there have been issues over the last few years. Turkey saw an increase of 22 percentage points between 2015 and 2019, due to in part the failed coup d’etat in 2016 that saw President Recep Tayyip Erdogan crackdown on media, civil society, and opposition across the country. Significant increases were also seen in France (16 percentage points) and Hungary (13 percentage points).
The right to say things without government censorship is held in high regard among Western Europeans, Canadians and Americans, of whom about seven-in-ten or more say that it is very important to have free speech, free press and freedom of expression on the internet in their country. These values receive less widespread support in Central and Eastern European nations such as Poland and Slovakia.
Alongside this, the importance placed on media freedom and internet freedom has risen across the board. Support for media freedom was up significantly in a number of nations where various organisations such as Reporters Without Borders have documented declines in the last years, such as Turkey and the US. Support for a free and independent media declined in Germany, Italy, Russia and Brazil, dropping as much as 11 percentage points in the latter.
52% of respondents in all countries said that they have considerable dissatisfaction with how democracy is working, just 44% are “satisfied”. The least satisfied out of respondents are citizens in Greece, Bulgaria and Nigeria. Those with a low income who do not support the ruling party are those most likely to be dissatisfied with the functioning of democracy in their state.
One way in which people are unhappy with the way democracy works is that they see political elites as out of touch. Across the nations surveyed, a median of 64% disagrees with the statement “Most elected officials care what people like me think.” This opinion is particularly widespread in Europe – a median of 69% expresses this view. Further, 71% share this view in the U.S. In contrast, fewer say this in the three Asian emerging economies included in the study: India (31%), the Philippines (29%) and Indonesia (18%). More than half of those surveyed said that the state is not run for the benefit of the people but in Greece, just 18% believe that it is.
Religious freedom was observed as important in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Turkey, Indonesia and India. It was, however, the lowest priority in more secular nations such as France, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, and Canada.
The report also noted that Europeans who favour right-wing populist parties such as in Spain, Poland, UK and Hungary had less support for religious freedom.
