---
title: "Negative views of democracy more widespread in countries with low political affiliation"
description: "Across 35 nations, a median of 26% do not identify with any political party in their country. In countries where more people are unaffiliated with any political party, popular support for representative democracy is also lower."
date: "2018-03-08"
authors:
  - name: "Janell Fetterolf"
    job_title: "Former Senior Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/janell-fetterolf/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/03/08/negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation/"
---

# Negative views of democracy more widespread in countries with low political affiliation

A system of competing political parties that gives citizens a voice is widely considered one of the core principles of liberal democracy, and this feature is common to a wide range of countries around the globe – even ones where the quality of choice at the ballot box is [questionable](http://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index). Parties appear to matter in practice, not just theory: In countries where more people are unaffiliated with any political party, popular support for representative democracy is also lower, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of public opinion in 35 countries.

Across the nations surveyed, a median of 26% do not identify with any political party in their country, though that percentage ranges from as low as 2% in India to as high as 78% in Chile.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/FT_18.02.07_Party-disaffiliation2.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/03/08/negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation/ft_18-02-07_party-disaffiliation2/)

And Chile is illustrative of the apparent link between skepticism of democracy and party unaffiliation. Although a global median of only 17% [oppose representative democracy](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2017/10/16/democracy-widely-supported-little-backing-for-rule-by-strong-leader-or-military/) as a form of government, roughly a third (35%) of Chileans hold this view. Disenchantment with established democracy may help explain why less than half of registered voters turned out for Chile’s [recent presidential election](https://www.idea.int/data-tools/question-countries-view/522/79/ctr).

Similar shares in Brazil (33%) and Peru (32%), two nations with [compulsory voting laws](https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout/compulsory-voting), exhibit skepticism about representative democracy. In both countries, six-in-ten people do not support any political party.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/FT_18.03.08_Unaffiliated_Nationswithhigher.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/03/08/negative-views-of-democracy-more-widespread-in-countries-with-low-political-affiliation/ft_18-03-08_unaffiliated_nationswithhigher/)

In fact, many of the nations with both poor views of democratic representation and large numbers of politically unaffiliated citizens are in Latin America. Overall, a median of 33% in the Latin American nations surveyed say a representative democracy is a bad way to govern their country, and a median of 51% do not support any political party. Data from the [AmericasBarometer](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/ab2016/AB2016-17_Comparative_Report_English_V2_FINAL_090117_W.pdf) shed some light on these findings. Its recent survey found that across 17 Latin American nations, a median of only 41% trust elections in their country, and a majority (67%) believes that more than half or all politicians are corrupt.

The dynamics of political affiliation and views of democracy vary in the Middle East and North Africa. Overall, a median of 16% in the region are politically unaffiliated. But in Jordan, where 60% of people do not identify with any party, more than one-third (36%) say democracy is a bad way to govern their country. And in Tunisia, viewed by many as the [democratic triumph of the Arab Spring](https://www.rand.org/blog/2016/04/tunisia-is-an-arab-spring-success-story.html), roughly half (51%) are politically unaffiliated and nearly four-in-ten (39%) oppose representative democracy. Notably, Tunisia’s emerging democracy continues to face threats, according to a 2018 [Freedom House](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/tunisia) report.

In countries where relatively few people are politically unaffiliated, assessments of representative democracy are less negative. For example, a median of just 15% across the 10 European nations surveyed do not support a political party, while the same modest share sees representative democracy as a bad way to govern.

The survey finds the least skepticism of democracy in Israel and India – two democratic systems founded in the middle of the last century. Only 3% of people in Israel and 2% in India are politically unaffiliated. In both countries, roughly one-in-ten hold negative views of democracy (11% in Israel and 8% in India).

*Note: Although the United States, South Korea and Vietnam were surveyed in the Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey, data were not included because of differences in question wording on party affiliation. *