What Can Improve Democracy?
Amid growing discontent with the state of democracy globally, we asked over 30,000 people what changes would make their democracy work better.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Amid growing discontent with the state of democracy globally, we asked over 30,000 people what changes would make their democracy work better.
The share of the public that supports authoritarian systems ranges from 85% in India to 8% in Sweden.
People in advanced and emerging economies have mixed feelings about social media’s impact on political life.
We asked respondents in both countries to, in their own words, define what democracy means to them. Most commonly, people mention three broad concepts: freedom and human rights, elections and procedures, and having a voice in government.
We asked over 30,000 people what would help democracy work better in their country. Key themes in their responses were addressing basic needs and improving or rebuilding the political system.
Much larger shares of people in most nations see China’s influence growing than say the same of the United States.
Many legislators in four English-speaking countries directly addressed George Floyd’s killing and the subsequent protests on Twitter.
United Kingdom legislators in the House of Lords and House of Commons tweeted more critical content of Trump’s recent visit to the nation.
Thirty years ago, a wave of optimism swept across Europe as walls and regimes fell, and long-oppressed publics embraced open societies, open markets and a more united Europe. Three decades later, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that few people in the former Eastern Bloc regret the monumental changes of 1989-1991.
They tend to be more left-leaning, more progressive in their social and political views, more receptive to immigrants and more favorable toward the European Union. They are also more mixed in their views of traditional center-left parties than older Western Europeans.
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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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