WIN, the world’s leading association in market research and polling, has published on November 19^th an opinion poll on democracy in the world - 60,190 people were interviewed in 62 countries across the globe. The world population shows a high degree of acceptance for democracy: 76% believe that democracy may have problems but it is the best system of government. There is consensus all over the world.

However, when asked about whether they feel their countries are governed by the will of people the scope of the consensus falls considerably: half of those surveyed (50%) agree but 46% disagree.

The two countries where most people say that the general will prevails are Fiji and Afghanistan. The two where most people believe the opposite are Armenia and Latvia.

The survey highlights both a strong acceptance of democracy as a principle and criticism of how the system actually works.

People in the 62 nations surveyed were asked whether they agree with the notion that democracy may have problems but is the best system of government. An ample majority of citizens (76%) agree or somewhat agree, while 20% disagree or somewhat disagree.

“Democracy may have problems but it is the best system of government?”

The perception of democracy as the best system of government is prevalent in all population segments and becomes even stronger among those more educated and those with a higher income.

Religious believers as non-believers single-out democracy as the best system of government, with extremely high levels of agreement within every major religion, including Jews, Protestants, Hindus, Catholics, Muslims and Buddhists.

Regarding the different regions of the world, we find the strongest acceptance of democracy in North America (82%), Africa (80%) and Western Europe (80%).

However, and even though a majority supports democracy, the level of acceptance is lower in North Asia (55%), Eastern Europe (64%) and Latin America (68%).

Among the countries that approve democracy the most, despite its problems, we find Sweden (93%), Morocco (92%), Argentina (91%), Switzerland (90%), Kenya (89%), Finland (87%), Fiji (87%), Portugal (88%), Germany (86%), Turkey (86%), Austria (85%) and Iceland (84%).

On the other hand, the 10 nations where less people believe that democracy is the best system of government are Mexico (54% agree, 43% disagree), Hong Kong (55% vs. 39%), the Palestine Territories (49% vs. 33%), Bulgaria (52% vs. 32%), Bosnia (56% vs. 36%), Japan (46% vs. 24% with 30% not responding), Serbia (57% vs. 32%), Lebanon (61% vs. 34%), Romania (58% vs. 29%) and Colombia (65% vs. 34%).

Citizens were also asked whether their country is governed by the will of the people, 50% of those surveyed agree or somewhat agree, while 46% disagree or somewhat disagree. There are differences between the regions of the world, as seen in the following chart.

Looking at the different regions we find that where there is the strongest agreement with the notion that countries are governed by the will of the people is in West and East Asia (60% and 69% respectively).

There is more disagreement with this notion in Eastern Europe (55% disagree against 39% who agree), Western Europe (56% vs. 40%) and Latin America (58% vs. 40%).

In the other regions (North America, Africa, Middle East and North Africa and the rest of Asia) the opinions are more evenly split between those who believe that the will of the people prevails and those who think otherwise.

Looking at the 62 countries surveyed, we find that in 26 of them there are more citizens who believe that the country is governed by the will of the people, 32 where more people believe that the opposite happens and four where the opinions are evenly split.

The 10 countries where most citizens think they are governed by the will of the people are Fiji, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Morocco, Indonesia, Sweden, Ecuador, Kenya, Panama and Pakistan. The 10 countries where a large majority of those interviewed rejected the idea that they are governed by the will of the people are Armenia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Mexico, Bosnia, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Greece, Belgium and Spain.

Jean-Marc Leger, President of WIN, said: ‘The survey finds that democracy has not failed as a norm, but doesn’t make unanimity. Those who have practiced democracy the longest, especially in Europe, are the most doubtful about the idea that their country is governed by the will of the people. WIN/Gallup International dug deeper on this important question in its ‘Voice of the People 2015 book’ based on ten year trend data.’