Only 33% of Hungarians believe that Hungary is a democracy
According to a recent survey, only 33 per cent of Hungarians are satisfied with the level of democracy in the country.
The survey looked at people’s perceptions of democracy in 53 countries, involving about 50,000 people. The survey was commissioned by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, writes 444.hu.
One of the key findings of the poll is that democracy remains popular.
At the same time, controlling the coronavirus pandemic was less effective in democratic countries than in less democratic countries. At the start of the pandemic, during the spring of 2020, roughly 70 per cent of the participants were satisfied with their government’s epidemiological measures in both democratic and less democratic countries. This satisfaction decreased in both measured groups; however, in countries with weaker democracies, it decreased by only 5 per cent. Only 51 per cent of those living in democracies were satisfied with the epidemiological measures taken by their government in 2021. There is also a big difference among continents, as
45 per cent of Europeans and 75 per cent of Asians are satisfied with the epidemiological activities of their government.
The poll asked which great power people fear threaten democracy in their own country. It may be surprising that respondents consider the United States to be the greatest threat to their country’s democracy (44%). The US is followed by China (38%) and Russia (28%). The operation of tech companies (48%) poses a greater threat to democracy than any of the three great powers.
An interesting contradiction is that 81 per cent of respondents think democracy is important, but just over half of the participants think that democracy works in their country. The most satisfied countries are Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, and China. In these countries, 71 per cent of respondents think that the democratic functioning of their government is adequate.
Hungary, Poland, and Russia are at the other end of the satisfaction list.
In these countries, only 33 per cent of respondents believe that their country is operating democratically. At the bottom of the list are also Iran, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Despite the fact that Gergely Gulyás declared that “Hungary is a model democracy”, his statement does not seem to be matching Hungarian citizens’ opinion.
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Source: 444.hu, index.hu