{"id":11551,"date":"2018-03-08T15:02:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T20:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:15:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:15:52","slug":"negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/03\/08\/negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation\/","title":{"rendered":"Negative views of democracy more widespread in countries with low political affiliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A system of competing political parties that gives citizens a voice is widely considered one of the core principles of liberal democracy, and this feature is common to a wide range of countries around the globe \u2013 even ones where the quality of choice at the ballot box is questionable<\/a>. Parties appear to matter in practice, not just theory: In countries where more people are unaffiliated with any political party, popular support for representative democracy is also lower, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of public opinion in 35 countries.<\/p>\n\n

Across the nations surveyed, a median of 26% do not identify with any political party in their country, though that percentage ranges from as low as 2% in India to as high as 78% in Chile.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

And Chile is illustrative of the apparent link between skepticism of democracy and party unaffiliation. Although a global median of only 17% oppose representative democracy<\/a> as a form of government, roughly a third (35%) of Chileans hold this view. Disenchantment with established democracy may help explain why less than half of registered voters turned out for Chile\u2019s recent presidential election<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Similar shares in Brazil (33%) and Peru (32%), two nations with compulsory voting laws<\/a>, exhibit skepticism about representative democracy. In both countries, six-in-ten people do not support any political party.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

In fact, many of the nations with both poor views of democratic representation and large numbers of politically unaffiliated citizens are in Latin America. Overall, a median of 33% in the Latin American nations surveyed say a representative democracy is a bad way to govern their country, and a median of 51% do not support any political party. Data from the AmericasBarometer<\/a> shed some light on these findings. Its recent survey found that across 17 Latin American nations, a median of only 41% trust elections in their country, and a majority (67%) believes that more than half or all politicians are corrupt.<\/p>\n\n

The dynamics of political affiliation and views of democracy vary in the Middle East and North Africa. Overall, a median of 16% in the region are politically unaffiliated. But in Jordan, where 60% of people do not identify with any party, more than one-third (36%) say democracy is a bad way to govern their country. And in Tunisia, viewed by many as the democratic triumph of the Arab Spring<\/a>, roughly half (51%) are politically unaffiliated and nearly four-in-ten (39%) oppose representative democracy. Notably, Tunisia\u2019s emerging democracy continues to face threats, according to a 2018 Freedom House<\/a> report.<\/p>\n\n

In countries where relatively few people are politically unaffiliated, assessments of representative democracy are less negative. For example, a median of just 15% across the 10 European nations surveyed do not support a political party, while the same modest share sees representative democracy as a bad way to govern.<\/p>\n\n

The survey finds the least skepticism of democracy in Israel and India \u2013 two democratic systems founded in the middle of the last century. Only 3% of people in Israel and 2% in India are politically unaffiliated. In both countries, roughly one-in-ten hold negative views of democracy (11% in Israel and 8% in India).<\/p>\n\n

Note: Although the United States, South Korea and Vietnam were surveyed in the Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey, data were not included because of differences in question wording on party affiliation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Across 35 nations, a median of 26% do not identify with any political party in their country. In countries where more people are unaffiliated with any political party, popular support for representative democracy is also 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