Difference between revisions of "Is democracy in danger?"
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'''Disconnect and discontent''' | '''Disconnect and discontent''' | ||
| − | People say that rich Western democracies (democratic for at least two generations, with an active civil society)are stable. But that could change soon. | + | People say that rich Western democracies (democratic for at least two generations, with an active civil society) are stable. But that could change soon. |
Political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk analysed data from the World Values Survey (which has drawn in nearly 100 countries since it began in 1981) to demonstrate a plunge, by age group, in the percentages of people who find it ‘essential’ to live in a democracy. | Political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk analysed data from the World Values Survey (which has drawn in nearly 100 countries since it began in 1981) to demonstrate a plunge, by age group, in the percentages of people who find it ‘essential’ to live in a democracy. | ||
Revision as of 14:52, 16 April 2017
Is democracy in danger?
In many democracies now, people trust politicians and parliaments less, not so many people vote. But is there less support for democracy?
Disconnect and discontent
People say that rich Western democracies (democratic for at least two generations, with an active civil society) are stable. But that could change soon.
Political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk analysed data from the World Values Survey (which has drawn in nearly 100 countries since it began in 1981) to demonstrate a plunge, by age group, in the percentages of people who find it ‘essential’ to live in a democracy.
The World Values Survey has information from nearly 100 countries since 1981. Political scientists have looked at this information and found that not so many people now think it is very important to live in a democracy. Older people, born around World War Two, support democracy most.
The young think it is not so ‘essential’ to live in a democracy:
This looks shocking for the youngest group. You can understand what is happening in a different way by looking at the data of the World Values Survey. This analysis was only of people who picked the highest score (10) from a scale of 1 to 10 when saying how important democracy is.
In New Zealand/Aotearoa, this is only 27%. But 75.3% gave a score of 6 and above, which is better.
But more people of all ages now think democracy is a bad idea.
A democratic system is a ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ way to run the country:
Iron fist
Percentage of US citizens who think ‘army rule’ is OK:
Two-fifths of people who answered a 2015 French survey thought an ‘authoritarian government’ with no democratic constraints should run their country:
Becoming harder
A survey by YouGov in 2016 of 12 European countries showed that very many people support authoritarian populist views: 1) anti-immigration, 2) anti-human rights, 3) anti-EU institutions and integration policies, and 4) strong on foreign-policy issues.
Surveys are not facts, but they do show what people think. And this explains why people are choosing authoritarian leaders and are not against violence in politics.
NOW READ THE ORIGINAL: http://www.newint.org/features/2017/04/01/is-democracy-in-danger/
