By Bolanle Mojeed
20 percent of Europeans believes that, in certain cases, dictatorship is preferable to democracy, according to a poll presented by Politico.
The study was conducted by a center-right group in France, Greece, Romania, Sweden and the UK. The survey clearly shows, however, that for Europeans, the problem is not democracy itself, but dissatisfaction when things do not go well – in Romania, for example, 66% of respondents declared themselves dissatisfied, compared to 42% in the UK, but 76% in Greece. A quarter of those interviewed say that if there was a capable leader in their country, they would not mind their rights being limited – nor if that leader should not be held accountable to citizens.
A strong minority on the continent holds anti-parliamentary views and does not consider the far right a threat to democracy, reveals the survey conducted by the AboutPeople polling institute and commissioned by the Progressive Lab think tank in five countries: Greece, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Romania.
The survey, conducted between November 25 and December 16 and first published by Politico, found widespread dissatisfaction with how democracy works in practice, rather than with democracy as a concept. Some 76% of Greeks, for example, expressed dissatisfaction with how democracy works in their country, compared with 68% in France, 66% in Romania, 42% in the UK and 32% in Sweden.
The study comes at a time when support for populist and nationalist forces is growing across the continent, with far-right parties taking top spots in polls in Germany, France and the UK.
“Traditional divisions between European countries are diminishing, and the landscape is becoming increasingly complex,” said Dimitris Papadimitriou, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, referring to classifications such as Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe.
“ Countries like Romania, which have experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, do not seem to inspire greater confidence in liberal democracy ,” Papadimitriou said. “Rich countries like Sweden are facing pressures on democratic institutions and declining public trust in them. France and, to a lesser extent, Britain are in deep crisis. Greece seems to be in a precarious balance between a general crisis of confidence in its institutions and a somewhat hazy belief in the ideals of democracy.”
In addition to one in five – 22% – stating that, in certain cases, dictatorship could be the preferred option, one in four – 26% – agrees with the statement: “ If there were a capable and effective leader in my country, I would not mind if he limited democratic rights and was not accountable to citizens for his actions.”
However, rejection of the idea of authoritarian rule remains strong, with 69% of respondents rejecting this proposal.
“The poll does not express a general dissatisfaction or an uncritical rejection of the democratic system,” said George Siakas, assistant professor at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. “It expresses citizens’ dissatisfaction with the way it functions, with clear anti-elite and anti-establishment characteristics.”
In terms of trust in institutions, the European Union achieved the best result, with 43%, ahead of the media, with 27%, and political parties, with 24%. A third of those surveyed disagreed with the view that the rise of the far right represents a danger to democracy.
Greek respondents expressed the greatest sense of distance from political parties, with 55% of them stating that they do not feel close to the party they voted for in the last election, compared to 53% in Romania, 47% in the United Kingdom, 43% in France and 32% in Sweden.
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