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.
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.
The majority of Americans say preventing terrorism and reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the country are top foreign policy priorities.
More Americans say their country’s influence in the world has been getting weaker rather than stronger in recent years (47% vs. 19%).
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.
74% of Republicans say social media has been more of a bad thing for U.S. democracy, compared with a smaller majority of Democrats (57%).
People in advanced and emerging economies have mixed feelings about social media’s impact on political life.
Viktor Orban, who’s set to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas, receives generally positive ratings from Hungarians.
Belgium, Finland and Italy are among the European countries with the shortest median lengths of government.
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.
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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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