How people in 24 countries feel about their political parties

Relatively few political parties are seen favorably by a majority of the public in their country, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 24 nations conducted this spring.

The survey asked about 101 political parties, averaging around four per country. Less than a quarter of these parties – 16 of 101, or 16% – are seen favorably by a majority of adults domestically. (Here’s a full list of the parties we asked about.)

People in many countries see at least one party favorably – but in 15 countries, no party we asked about gets positive ratings from a majority of adults.

In the sections below, we explore:

• Views of the main governing party in each country (that is, the largest party by legislative seat share in the governing coalition at the time of the survey)
• Views of the main opposition party (the largest party not in the governing coalition at the time of the survey)
• Views of right-wing populist parties (as defined in our methodology)
• “Double negatives” – that is, people who have a negative view of both the main governing and opposition party

How we did this

This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on views of more than 100 political parties in 24 countries globally. In this analysis, the “main governing party” is defined as the party within the governing coalition – if applicable – with the most seats during the survey period. The “main opposition party” is defined as the largest party by seat share outside the governing coalition during the survey period.

We asked about at least two parties in every country, and in most countries, we asked about more. Here is a full list of the parties asked about. In most cases, the additional parties included in the survey are among the largest by seat share or in coalition with the governing party. In all European countries, we also asked about at least one right-wing populist party, as defined here.

For data from outside the United States, this analysis draws on nationally representative surveys of 27,291 adults conducted Jan. 8 to April 26, 2025. All surveys were conducted over the phone with adults in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Surveys were conducted face-to-face in Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey. In Australia, we used a mixed-mode probability-based online panel.

In Hungary and Poland, we conducted simultaneous face-to-face and telephone surveys in 2024. The data cited in our 2024 reports comes from the face-to-face surveys in these countries, but the data in this analysis comes from the telephone surveys. This is to allow for direct comparisons with our 2025 telephone surveys. For this reason, the 2024 data for Hungary and Poland in this analysis may not match data in our earlier reports.

In the U.S., we surveyed 3,554 adults from Aug. 4 to 10, 2025. Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology. For more on phone trends in the U.S., refer to this topline.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.

Views of governing parties

In many countries surveyed, the main governing party is unpopular. But this is not the case everywhere:

• In four countries, at least six-in-ten adults have a positive view of the governing party: Indonesia (80%), Mexico (78%), India (76%) and South Africa (63%).
• In six other countries, about half or more have a favorable view of their main ruling party: Germany (57%), Australia (55%), Canada (53%), Sweden (52%), Israel (49%) and Argentina (48%).

Governing parties are broadly unpopular in Brazil, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Still, in each case, these parties are either the most popular of those asked about or tied with another party.

How views of governing parties differ by ideology

Views of most governing political parties are divided along ideological lines.

• Likud, the governing party in Israel, is viewed favorably by 79% of Israelis on the ideological right, compared with 7% of those on the left – a gap of 72 percentage points.
• The Republican Party in the U.S. also brings out a large ideological divide: 72% of conservatives have a positive view of the party, compared with 8% of liberals – a 64-point gap. (By comparison, the ideological gap in views of the Democratic Party is 53 points.)
• Ideological gaps of at least 50 points also appear for the governing parties in Turkey (56 points), Sweden (54), Italy (53) and Hungary (50).

How views of governing parties have changed over time

Views of some governing parties have improved since 2024:

• This is the case with Social Democratic Party in Germany and the African National Congress party in South Africa (+18 percentage points each), the Liberal Party in Canada (+15 points) and the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria (+6 points). Aside from Nigeria, these countries all had general elections since we last asked these questions last spring.  

Views of other governing parties have worsened since last year:

• The ruling parties in Kenya and Poland (-14 points each), the Netherlands (-12 points) and Greece (-11 points) have lost popularity since last year.

Notably, favorability for the Morena party in Mexico stands at a near-record high (78%). The Liberal Democratic Party in Japan (26%) is near a record low, and favorability toward Kenya’s United Democratic Alliance (44%) is at its lowest ever in Pew Research Center surveys.

Views of opposition parties

In some countries, more people have a favorable view of the main party out of power than the main party in power:

• In Kenya, Nigeria and Sweden, the main opposition party is viewed favorably by a majority of adults and is more popular than the governing party.
• In the Netherlands, more adults have a favorable opinion of the main opposition party, GroenLinks-Labour Party (GL-PvdA), than the governing party, The Party for Freedom (PVV) (50% vs. 32%). The same is true in France: more adults have a favorable opinion of National Rally than Renaissance (35% vs. 27%).
• In several other countries – Brazil, Greece, Italy, Japan and Turkey – people view the main opposition party and the governing party in a similar light.

Views of right-wing populist parties

In the 10 European countries included in our survey, we asked about at least one right-wing populist party. Most of these parties are unpopular. Forza Italia in Italy is the only one of 13 right-wing populist parties in the survey to receive a positive assessment from more than half of adults in the country. It is also the most popular party in Italy.

Other right-wing populist parties have sizable ratings:

• Brothers of Italy, as well as Fidesz in Hungary and National Rally in France, are among the most popular parties in their countries, despite being viewed favorably by around 40% of adults or fewer.
• About a quarter of adults in Greece (24%) view the Greek Solution party favorably – about the same share who have a favorable opinion of the main governing and opposition parties.

On the other hand, the Sweden Democrats (27%) and Alternative for Germany (21%) are the least liked parties in their countries among those asked about. And Lega in Italy is among the least liked in that country (29%).

How views of right-wing populist parties have changed over time

Since we started asking about some far-right populist parties in 2016, support for several has grown significantly, including Forza Italia, National Rally and Alternative for Germany (AfD). Views of Reform UK and Vox in Spain have also improved in recent years.

The Brothers of Italy party has become more popular, too. It is viewed favorably by 43% of Italian adults this year – up from 31% in the spring of 2022 – and has been the largest party in Italy’s parliament since October 2022.

Only two right-wing populist parties in our surveys have lost significant support. Views of Law and Justice (PiS) in Poland and Jobbik in Hungary are about 10 percentage points more negative this year than when we started asking about them in 2016.

‘Double negatives’

Greece and Japan stand out for having large shares of “double negatives” – people who dislike both the main governing and opposition parties. This is the case among 61% of adults in Greece and 54% of those in Japan.

In most surveyed countries, around a quarter of adults or fewer have unfavorable opinions of both their main governing and opposition party.

Still, it’s uncommon for adults in these countries to like both the main governing and opposition party. In only two countries – Indonesia and India – do a plurality of adults have a favorable view of the primary governing and opposition party.

Americans, for their part, are divided. Three-in-ten have a negative opinion of both the Republican and Democratic parties, 32% have a positive view of the Republican Party only, and 29% have a positive view of the Democratic Party only.

Views by age

In many high-income countries, younger adults (those ages 18 to 34) are more likely than older ones (ages 50 and up) to have a negative opinion of both main political parties. In middle-income countries, there are no age differences.

Do ‘double negatives’ like other parties?

In 11 of the countries surveyed, around half or more of “double negatives” have another party that they like. For instance, 69% of Germans who dislike the two main parties in their country – SPD and CDU – have a favorable view of Alliance 90/The Greens, the Free Democratic Party or Alternative for Germany, the other three parties we asked about. (In each country, this could at least partially be a function of how many other parties we asked about.)

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.