This article Richard Wike and Shannon Schumacher is published by Pew Research. Here is an excerpt:
Over the past few years, numerous scholars have found evidence that the health of democracy is in decline around the world, using terms such as “democratic backsliding” or “democratic recession” to describe an overall deterioration of democratic rights and institutions.
As a new 34-nation Pew Research Center survey highlights, democracy remains a popular idea among average citizens, but commitment to democratic ideals is not always strong. And many are unhappy with how democracy is working.
As previous Pew Research Center studies have shown, people who are dissatisfied with how democracy is functioning are often less committed to representative democracy, and one important driver of dissatisfaction with democracy is frustration with political elites. In the current survey, a median of 64% across the countries polled believe elected officials do not care what people like them think. And, in nearly every nation surveyed, those who think politicians don’t care about average citizens are more likely to be dissatisfied with the way democracy is functioning in their country.
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