On average, 45 percent of voters in the nine countries surveyed are dissatisfied with how democracy works. And in the countries where distrust is greatest – France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain – over 50 percent of those surveyed are dissatisfied, reports the news site Politico , citing a survey conducted by Ipsos.
But in Sweden - where 1,002 voters were surveyed - a full 65 percent of those surveyed are overall satisfied with democracy, while dissatisfaction remains at 15 percent.
Although there is a pronounced concern for the future of democracy even among Swedish voters. The survey shows that 41 percent of voters in Sweden are worried about how democracy will function in five years.
In the other eight countries in the survey, a majority of voters are concerned about threats to their country's self-determination in the coming five-year period, Politico reports.
There is widespread concern about how democracy works, with people not feeling represented by their national governments, says Gideon Skinner, UK head of Ipsos.
A survey by Ipsos, with 9,800 voters in nine Western countries, shows that French voters have the least confidence in the democratic system. There, only 19 percent are satisfied with democracy, while 60 percent are dissatisfied. But also in the US, UK, Spain, Italy and Croatia, significantly more are dissatisfied than satisfied.
In the Netherlands, the proportion of dissatisfied voters is only marginally greater than the proportion of satisfied voters, while in Poland there are more voters who are satisfied than dissatisfied with democracy – but the proportion of satisfied is only 40 percent, while the dissatisfied is up to 31 percent.
Sweden stands out with 65 percent of just over a thousand respondents saying they are satisfied with democracy.
Source: Politico
