Nearly 75% of Americans are dissatisfied with U.S. democracy, a new study has found.
Credit: Shutterstock
More Americans are dissatisfied with democracy than at any point since records began in 1995, according to a new study published Wednesday, and the number of citizens with a positive view of the U.S. system of government dipped for the first time below 50%. (emphasis added)
To observers like journalist Rania Khalek, the reason for such a shift in global attitudes was clear.
“Our systems aren’t actually democratic,” said Khalek. “We live in a miserable oligarchy, no wonder people are unhappy.”
A majority of people around the world—57.5%—are dissatisfied with democracy, the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Future of Democracy study (pdf) found.
“If confidence in democracy has been slipping, it is because democratic institutions have been seen failing to address some of the major crises of our era, from economic crashes to the threat of global warming,” said study lead author Dr Roberto Foa.
According to the study, Americans’ dissatisfaction with democracy has been on the rise since the financial crisis […]
Wow, if 57.5% of the people around the world are unhappy with their democracy then what do they want in its place? A quick Google search says 58% of world nations are “democratic”, constituting only 40% of the world population. I’d bet a survey of the other 42% of nations and 60% of the world population (if surveys were even allowed) would prefer to live in a democratic nation.
Your democracy is what you make it. More people need to be civically involved. At least in a democracy you can change things, or move.
Tom in NY
The trouble may have more to do with capitalism than Democracy. A Social Democracy with less inequality would probably be most people’s choice if they knew how to get it in place. That kind of government would require more laws protecting people’s wellbeing in all of it’s decisions, as well as respecting the rest of the world; thus having less or even NO wars.