A new study reveals voter concerns over corruption, disinformation, and extremist parties undermining elections.
According to a Politico report citing an Ipsos poll, approximately 45% of residents in Western nations believe that democracy in their respective countries is “broken.”
The study, conducted in September and shared with the outlet, encompassed 9,800 voters from the US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Poland.
As per the poll, citizens in seven out of the nine surveyed countries are dissatisfied with the functioning of democracy. Sweden and Poland were the sole exceptions where a majority of respondents expressed confidence in their system of self-governance, Politico noted in a Friday article.
The study found that 60% of respondents in France were unhappy with the situation, followed by the US (53%), UK (51%), and Spain (51%). Disinformation, corruption, a lack of political accountability, and the increasing popularity of extremist parties were identified by respondents as key threats to the democratic process.
In the UK and Croatia, only 23% of poll participants believed their governments effectively represented them.
A clear majority across most surveyed countries, with Sweden being the exception, expressed concern that risks to self-governance would escalate over the next five years, the study indicated.
Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, told Politico that “there is widespread concern about the way democracy is working, with people feeling unrepresented particularly by their national governments. In most countries, there is a desire for radical change.”
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that “the so-called ruling elites in some Western countries are turning freedom, democracy, human rights and opportunities into window dressing, and are effectively ignoring the public opinion.”
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian parliament, previously suggested that Western European states were “turning into totalitarian regimes led by unpopular politicians and parties,” with rivals supported by the public facing trials and bans.
Volodin cited Germany’s AfD party being designated an extremist organization, France’s ban on Marine Le Pen running for public office, and Calin Georgescu’s disqualification from the Romanian presidential election last year as the most prominent examples of this trend.