Janell Fetterolf is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, specializing in international survey research. She is a contributing author on numerous reports, including studies about America’s image abroad, democracy, and views of gender equality. She also works on developing questionnaires, assessing data quality, and analyzing survey results. Fetterolf has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Rutgers University and a B.A. from Northwestern University.
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.
As democratic nations have wrestled with economic, social and geopolitical upheaval in recent years, the future of liberal democracy has come into question. Our international surveys reveal key insights into how citizens think about democratic governance.
The U.S. is seen positively in advanced economies for its technology, entertainment, military and universities, but negatively for its health care system, discrimination and the state of its democracy.
Wide majorities in most of the 17 advanced economies surveyed say having people of many different backgrounds improves their society, but most also see conflicts between partisan, racial and ethnic groups.
