Study: Half of the West is losing faith in democracy

A recent survey shows that 45 percent of people in Western countries consider democracy in their countries to be "dysfunctional," according to media reports. The survey, conducted by Ipsos in September, polled 9,800 voters in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Croatia, the Netherlands and Poland.

Citizens in seven out of nine countries expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of their democratic systems, while Sweden and Poland were the only two countries where a majority of respondents expressed confidence in their self-government systems. France recorded the highest levels of dissatisfaction with 60% of those dissatisfied, followed by the United States (53%), the United Kingdom (51%), and Spain (51%).

The top concerns of the participants were: The spread of misinformation, corruption, lack of accountability of politicians, and the growing influence of extremist parties.

In the UK and Croatia, only 23% of respondents felt that their governments truly represented them. With the exception of Sweden, the majority of respondents in the participating countries believed that threats to autonomy would increase over the next five years.

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said: "There is widespread concern about the way democracy works, with people feeling unrepresented, especially by national governments. "In most countries, there is a desire for radical change.

Russian officials have previously criticized Western democracies, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that "the so-called ruling elites in some Western countries turn the concepts of freedom, democracy, human rights and opportunity into a mere façade, while virtually ignoring public opinion."

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also stated that several countries in Western Europe are "turning into totalitarian regimes led by unpopular politicians and parties," citing steps such as designating the Alternative for Germany as an extremist organization, preventing Marine Le Pen from running for president in France, and disqualifying Calin Georgescu from the presidential race in Romania last year.