Distrust in elections, courts - democracy poll

A new global poll has found that voters around the world are showing widespread scepticism about elections in their countries.

The Perceptions of Democracy Survey report by the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) has also found many voters favor a strong and undemocratic leader.

The survey, conducted in 19 countries between July 2023 and January 2024 - including three of the world's largest democracies; Brazil, India, and the USA - polled around 1500 persons in each of the 19 countries, representing around a third of the world's population.

The Solomon Islands was the only nation from the Pacific that was part of the global study.

The countries were chosen to include a wide range of geographic, economic and political contexts, the report said.

"In 17 of the 19 countries polled, fewer than half of the people are satisfied with their governments, and in only four countries do a majority feel they are doing better economically than their parents," International IDEA said in a statement.

According to the survey, in a majority of countries, self-identified minorities and low-income communities were more likely to express

the view that the most recent elections were not free and fair.

"In Iraq, Pakistan, Romania and the Solomon Islands, for example, more than half of low-income respondents do not believe the most recent election in their country was free and fair.

"This pattern holds for countries that experts consider to be in the mid-range and high-range of performance. Women have mixed views, and in the majority of contexts women are more likely to assess electoral credibility as 'complicated', meaning that there were both positive and negative elements."

Secretary-general Kevin Casas-Zamora said the findings was a wakeup call for democracies.

"Democracies must respond to the scepticism of their public, both by improving governance and by combating the growing culture of disinformation that has fostered false accusations against credible elections."

The study recommends experts and civil society organisations should consider public perceptions in their evaluations of democracies, with a focus on marginalised groups.

It also states policymakers should also look beyond expert data set to understand the state of democracy and address gaps in perceptions between experts and the public.

Key findings:

• In 11 of 19 countries, fewer than half of the people say that the last election was 'free and fair'.
• In 8 of 19 countries, more people have favourable views of 'a strong leader who doesn't have to bother with parliament or elections' than have unfavourable views.
• In 18 of 19 countries, fewer than half of the people believe that the courts 'always' or 'often' provide access to justice.
• Self-identified minorities, women and low-income groups tend to express experiencing more obstacles to access to political institutions.
• People are generally more sceptical than experts about the state of their democracies.
• In most countries, a majority of respondents feel that they usually or always have the freedom to say what they think publicly.