# Support for democracy: report

Chapter 5.3 of The Public Mind, by Vishal Singh (NYU Stern). Generated from the chapter's data files; the reading version is at https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy. Table n of this report is figure n of the chapter.

## Identification

- Title: Support for democracy
- Chapter: 5.3 (Part V, Institutions and democratic attitudes; Coalitions and political differences)
- Question: Is stated support for democracy falling, and is appetite for strong-leader or army rule rising?
- Dek: In a fixed set of countries, support for a democratic system changed by +1.2 points between 1995 to 1998 and 2017 to 2023, while approval of a strong leader rose by 9.9 points and army rule by 7.6 points.
- Grain: countries
- Status: draft
- Published: 2026-10-03
- Updated: not revised
- Data sources:
  - World Values Survey and EVS. World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3 to 7 (1995 to 2023): political-system battery, importance of democracy, perceived democraticness, left-right placement, age; years: 1981-2023 (7 unified waves); weights: weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries
  - European Social Survey. European Social Survey, Round 6 (2012 to 2013) and Round 10 (2020 to 2022): democracy evaluations and satisfaction with democracy; years: 2002-2023 (rounds 1 to 11; round 11 was fielded in 2023 and 2024); weights: weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries
- Canonical URL: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy
- Report: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy/report
- Markdown: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy/report.md
- BibTeX key: singh2026supportfordemocracy

```bibtex
@misc{singh2026supportfordemocracy,
  author = {Singh, Vishal},
  title = {Support for democracy},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy},
  note = {In The Public Mind. Published 3 October 2026.}
}
```

## Principal estimates

The facts the dek and the opening prose cite, in order of appearance.

| Estimand | Population | Period | Value | Interval | n | Weights | Source | Fact id |
| --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | --- | --- |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | +1.2 | 95% CI −1.0 to 3.4 | 114,207 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | dem_chg |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the rise in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 9.9 | 95% CI 4.9 to 14.9 | 112,906 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | lead_rise |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the rise in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 7.6 | 95% CI 3.7 to 11.5 | 113,803 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | army_rise |
| count of countries | countries with every political-system item above the floor in Waves 3, 5 and 7 | Waves 3, 5 and 7 | 39 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS | k_panel |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 88.5% | 95% CI 86.1% to 90.8% | 49,767 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | dem3 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 89.7% | 95% CI 87.7% to 91.7% | 64,440 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | dem7 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 38.2% | 95% CI 32.9% to 43.4% | 49,235 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | lead3 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 48.1% | 95% CI 41.1% to 55.0% | 63,671 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | lead7 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | +9.9 | 95% CI 4.9 to 14.9 | 112,906 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | lead_chg |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 13.0% | 95% CI 9.7% to 16.4% | 50,168 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | army3 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 20.7% | 95% CI 15.8% to 25.5% | 63,635 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | army7 |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | +7.6 | 95% CI 3.7 to 11.5 | 113,803 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | army_chg |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 14 countries whose survey program stayed the same between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | −2.8 | 95% CI −5.6 to 0.1 | 39,829 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | prog_same_dem |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 25 countries whose survey program switched between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | +3.5 | 95% CI 0.7 to 6.2 | 74,378 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | prog_sw_dem |
| weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 | 90.6% | 95% CI 88.9% to 92.3% | 1,433 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_dem95 |
| weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 | 85.0% | 95% CI 83.2% to 86.8% | 2,509 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_dem17 |
| weighted share in 2017 minus 1995; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 to 2017 | −5.6 | 95% CI −8.1 to −3.1 | 3,942 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_dem_chg |
| equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 38 other countries of the fixed set, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | +1.4 | 95% CI −0.8 to 3.6 | 114,207 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | oth_dem_chg |
| count of countries | the countries of the fixed set other than the United States | Waves 3, 5 and 7 | 38 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS | k_others |
| lowest age of the young group | definition used in the chapter | not applicable | 18 |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS | age_young_min |
| highest age of the young group | definition used in the chapter | not applicable | 34 |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS | age_young_max |
| weighted share in 2017 minus 1995 calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 to 2017 | −9.9 | 95% CI −14.9 to −4.8 | 1,319 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_young_dem_chg |
| weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 | 7.1% | 95% CI 4.2% to 10.1% | 390 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_young_army95 |
| weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 2017 | 29.9% | 95% CI 26.3% to 33.6% | 951 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS | us_young_army17 |
| lowest age in the sample | definition used in the chapter | not applicable | 18 |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS | age_adult_min |
| minimum Kish effective sample size of a country cell (b3.stats.FLOORS wvs_ess_mean) | definition used in the chapter | not applicable | 100 |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS | floor_neff |
| median across the fixed-set estimates of the country-clustered standard error over the standard error that counts only within-country sampling | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Waves 3, 5 and 7 | 11.0 |   |   | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | ratio_med |

## Findings

In a fixed set of 39 countries, the share of adults who called a democratic political system a good way of governing their country was 88.5% in 1995 to 1998 and 89.7% in 2017 to 2023, a change of +1.2 (95% CI −1.0 to 3.4) points. The share who called a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing rose from 38.2% to 48.1% (+9.9 (95% CI 4.9 to 14.9) points), and the share who called army rule a good way rose from 13.0% to 20.7% (+7.6 (95% CI 3.7 to 11.5) points). The pooled change in support averages two groups of countries whose changes have opposite signs, −2.8 (95% CI −5.6 to 0.1) points where the survey program stayed the same and +3.5 (95% CI 0.7 to 6.2) where it switched.

The United States moved differently on support. The share of Americans who called a democratic system good fell from 90.6% in 1995 to 85.0% in 2017, a change of −5.6 (95% CI −8.1 to −3.1) points, against +1.4 (95% CI −0.8 to 3.6) in the other 38 countries of the set. Among Americans aged 18 to 34 the fall was −9.9 (95% CI −14.9 to −4.8) points, and the share of that age group who called army rule good rose from 7.1% to 29.9%. The American surveys changed mode over these years, from face-to-face interviews in 1995 to a web survey in 2006 and web and telephone interviews in 2017, and part of the change could come from the mode.

The data are the World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Study (EVS), pooled by the cleaned file into seven waves; the political-system questions were asked from Wave 3 on. Respondents rate four ways of governing their country as very good, fairly good, fairly bad or very bad: a democratic political system, a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament and elections, army rule, and experts rather than government making decisions. "Good" here means fairly or very good, and the sample is respondents aged 18 or older. Each way of governing is rated on its own, so a respondent can call a democratic system good and also call a strong leader or army rule good. Countries are surveyed at different points inside a wave. In the fixed set, Wave 3 was fielded in 1995 to 1998, Wave 5 in 2004 to 2009 and Wave 7 in 2017 to 2023. A country is in the set when it has at least 100 effective respondents on every item in all three waves, so each wave compares the same countries. One country that meets the rule is removed for the reason given below (Table 9). (Note: Each country's share uses the WVS weight and carries an interval from the Kish effective sample size [1]. A figure for the fixed set gives every country equal weight, and its interval is clustered by country: it comes from how much the country values differ and treats the countries as a sample of countries like them. That interval is about 11.0 times as wide as one that counts only sampling error inside countries. The WVS file has no strata or sampling units, so no interval includes design effects.)

### Pooled support for a democratic system did not change

The pooled share hides movements in opposite directions, by country and by survey program. Table 1 plots the fixed set. The share calling a democratic system good was 88.5% in Wave 3, 88.4% in Wave 5 and 89.7% in Wave 7. No difference between waves has an interval that excludes zero: the change is 0.0 (95% CI −2.3 to 2.2) points from Wave 3 to Wave 5, +1.3 (95% CI −0.6 to 3.2) from Wave 5 to Wave 7 and +1.2 (95% CI −1.0 to 3.4) over the whole period. The interval for the whole period rules out an average fall of more than 1.0 points. The share starts near the top of the scale, so it has less room to rise than to fall.

Table 1. Stated support for a democratic system held at 89.7% in the fixed set of countries while approval of a strong leader rose to 48.1%

Using each country's own interval, the share calling a democratic system good rose in 18 of the 39 countries, fell in 10 and changed by less than sampling error in 11 (Table 2, democratic system view). South Korea, Colombia and India have the largest falls, followed by Montenegro and the United States.

Three features of the data bear on the pooled comparison. The first is the survey program. The Wave 3 survey is a WVS survey in every country of the set, and the Wave 7 survey is a WVS survey in 14 countries and an EVS survey in 25. Where the program stayed the same, support for a democratic system changed by −2.8 (95% CI −5.6 to 0.1) points and approval of a strong leader by +16.0 (95% CI 7.9 to 24.0). Where it switched, the changes are +3.5 (95% CI 0.7 to 6.2) and +6.5 (95% CI 0.2 to 12.8). The first group minus the second differs by −6.2 (95% CI −10.1 to −2.4) points on support. Every country that switched is in Europe and Central Asia and none of the others is, so program cannot be separated from region (program views of Table 1).

The second is weighting. In 32 of the 39 countries the Wave 3 survey gives every respondent the same weight, against 6 in Wave 5 and 4 in Wave 7, so Wave 3 shares are in effect unweighted and later shares are weighted. Without weights the change is +1.6 (95% CI −0.6 to 3.7) points for a democratic system, +8.8 (95% CI 3.9 to 13.8) for a strong leader and +7.0 (95% CI 3.2 to 10.8) for army rule, with the same signs as the weighted changes.

The third is Albania, which meets the rule for the set and is left out. Its Wave 3 survey, from 1998, shows an implausible response pattern. In it 39.5% of respondents call all four ways of governing good, against a median of 2.9% in the other countries of the set, and no other country is above 24.7%. A further 42.5% rate both army rule and a democratic system very good, against 1.2% in Wave 5. It is the only country in which any of the four shares changes by more than 40 points between adjacent waves: army rule is 82.0% in 1998 and 11.6% in 2002. The file does not say whether the cause is fieldwork, coding or response style. With Albania in, the change in approval of army rule is +5.8 (95% CI 0.5 to 11.1) points, against +7.6 (95% CI 3.7 to 11.5) without it, and the democracy-only share changes by −8.9 (95% CI −15.0 to −2.7) points (−10.4 (95% CI −15.8 to −5.0) without). The signs do not change.

A second question, asked from Wave 5 on, rates how important it is to live in a democracy on a ten-point scale. In the 46 countries that have it in both Wave 5 and Wave 7, the share giving the top rating was 50.6% and then 53.2%, a change of +2.6 (95% CI −1.0 to 6.3) points. The 17 countries observed in every wave from Wave 3 to Wave 7 give changes of +1.1 (95% CI −3.1 to 5.3) points for a democratic system, +11.4 (95% CI 2.8 to 20.0) for a strong leader and +5.4 (95% CI 1.1 to 9.6) for army rule, with the same signs as the main set.

### Approval of a strong leader and army rule rose after Wave 5

The share calling a strong leader good was 38.2%, 41.5% and 48.1% in the three waves. The change from Wave 3 to Wave 5 is +3.3 (95% CI −0.6 to 7.2) points, an interval that includes zero, and from Wave 5 to Wave 7 it is +6.6 (95% CI 3.3 to 9.9) points. Army rule follows the same timing, at 13.0%, 15.2% and 20.7%, with changes of +2.1 (95% CI −0.2 to 4.4) and +5.5 (95% CI 3.0 to 8.0) points. Approval of experts making decisions moved less than approval of a strong leader, by 7.0 (95% CI 1.3 to 12.7) points, from 61.0% to 63.9%, a change of +2.9 (95% CI −1.3 to 7.0) points whose interval includes zero. Some Wave 7 surveys outside the United States used web or self-completion modes, so the rise from Wave 5 to Wave 7 carries a mode caveat too.

Inside countries the rise is common but not general. A strong leader gained approval in 25 countries, lost it in 8 and changed by less than sampling error in 6. Army rule gained in 22, lost in 3 and did not change by more than sampling error in 14. The largest gains in approval of a strong leader are in Montenegro, Argentina, South Korea, Peru and Romania, and the losses are in Estonia, Finland and Switzerland.

Table 2. The share calling a democratic system good rose in 18 countries, fell in 10 and held within sampling error in 11

### Fewer respondents rule out both alternatives

Among respondents who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items, Table 3 sorts people into three groups: those who call a democratic system good and call neither a strong leader nor army rule good (democracy only), those who call a democratic system good and also call at least one of the two good (democracy and an alternative), and those who do not call a democratic system good.

Table 3. The share calling a democratic system good and rejecting both alternatives fell from 55.3% to 44.9% in the fixed set

In the fixed set the democracy-only share fell from 55.3% to 44.9%, a change of −10.4 (95% CI −15.8 to −5.0) points, and the democracy-and-an-alternative share rose from 33.2% to 44.5% (+11.3 (95% CI 6.7 to 15.8) points). The share that does not call a democratic system good was 11.5% and 10.6%, a change of −0.9 (95% CI −3.1 to 1.4) points with an interval that includes zero. The first two moved by similar amounts in opposite directions. The democracy-only share fell in 24 countries and rose in 7. In the United States it fell from 68.2% to 51.5% (−16.7 (95% CI −20.4 to −12.9) points), a larger fall than in all but 11 of the other countries.

### The United States differs on support and on army rule

Americans in 1995 were less approving of both alternatives than the average country in the set, at 24.9% for a strong leader and 6.6% for army rule. By 2017 they matched the set on army rule, at 20.9% against 20.7%, and stayed below it on a strong leader, at 38.1% against 48.1%. The share calling a democratic system good was 90.6% in 1995, 82.3% in 2011 and 85.0% in 2017, below the set's 89.7% in the last year.

Set against the change in the other 38 countries, the United States differs on the democratic system, army rule and experts but not on a strong leader (Table 1, United States view). Its change in the democratic-system share is −7.0 (95% CI −10.3 to −3.7) points relative to theirs, and only 4 countries in the set have a larger fall. For army rule the difference is +6.9 (95% CI 2.3 to 11.5) points, against +8.7 (95% CI 3.0 to 14.5) with Albania in, and for experts +13.5 (95% CI 7.9 to 19.0). For a strong leader it is +3.4 (95% CI −2.7 to 9.4) points. That interval includes zero but also permits a difference as large as the army-rule one, so the data neither show nor rule out that Americans moved more than others on that item. Each interval combines the sampling error of the American change with the clustered error of the others' average.

In 2017 the United States is below the median country on support for a democratic system and on approval of a strong leader, and at the median on army rule and on the importance question (Table 4). Across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 (90 for army rule), the median share calling a democratic system good is 90.5%, against 85.0% in the United States. For a strong leader the median is 51.7%, which is 13.6 points above the 38.1% for Americans. For army rule it is 20.3%, and for the top rating on importance 50.2%, against 49.9%. On how democratically their country is governed, rated on a ten-point scale, Americans averaged 6.05 and the median country 6.08.

Table 4. In Wave 7 the United States is below the median country on a democratic system and a strong leader and at the median on army rule

### Young adults closed the gap with older adults on a strong leader

Whether younger cohorts are less supportive of democracy is debated. Foa and Mounk read a lower share of top importance ratings among people born since 1980 as a cohort effect [2] [3]. Voeten found flat trends for groups of established democracies and, for the most part, an age difference among young adults, with the United States an exception that rested on one survey [4]. Norris noted that pooling waves cannot separate generational, life-cycle and period effects [5], and Alexander and Welzel argued that Foa and Mounk overstate the age differences [6]. Wuttke, Gavras and Schoen separated age, cohort and period in European countries from 1981 to 2018 and found continued endorsement of self-governance, with more "democrats in name only" among the young in some countries [7].

Age, period and cohort cannot all be separated, because birth year equals survey year minus age. A cross-section such as Wave 7 mixes age with birth cohort. Comparing the same age group across waves mixes cohort with period, and following one cohort across waves mixes age with period. A comparison speaks to cohorts only if a period change is the same at every age and the way support varies with age has not itself changed, and neither can be tested here. The age and cohort figures use 30 of the 39 countries, those with at least 100 respondents and effective respondents in every age-group and cohort cell they use, marked in Table 9. Young adults are those aged 18 to 34 and older adults those aged 55 or more.

Table 5. Young adults went from less approving of a strong leader than older adults to level with them between Wave 3 and Wave 7

In Wave 7 the three age groups give nearly the same share calling a democratic system good: the difference between young and older adults is −1.3 (95% CI −2.6 to 0.0) points. For a strong leader it is +0.4 (95% CI −1.9 to 2.6) points, for army rule +2.2 (95% CI −0.5 to 4.9) and for expert decisions +5.4 (95% CI 1.8 to 9.0). Wave 3 looked different. Young adults then approved of a strong leader 6.6 (95% CI 3.6 to 9.7) points less than older adults did, and of army rule 3.2 (95% CI 1.7 to 4.8) points less. Between Wave 3 and Wave 7 approval of a strong leader rose by +11.1 (95% CI 5.8 to 16.3) points among young adults and +4.1 (95% CI −1.0 to 9.1) among older adults, and approval of army rule by +10.0 (95% CI 5.4 to 14.6) and +4.5 (95% CI −0.4 to 9.4). The age gap therefore changed by +7.0 (95% CI 3.8 to 10.2) points for a strong leader and +5.4 (95% CI 2.1 to 8.8) for army rule, against −1.4 (95% CI −3.1 to 0.4) for a democratic system.

Table 6. Every birth cohort followed across waves became more approving of a strong leader, and the cohorts ended close together

Read as a difference between cohorts, those results need the two assumptions above. Table 6 follows birth cohorts across waves and every cohort rises. The newest cohort, born 1987 or later, stands at 48.0% in Wave 7, within a point of the oldest cohort. A rise that reaches every cohort resembles a period change, and a gap between age groups that closes resembles a difference between cohorts. The data do not decide between the two, and both can hold.

The importance question gives a different picture. Young adults are less likely than older adults to give the top rating, by 6.9 (95% CI 3.5 to 10.4) points in Wave 5 and 9.5 (95% CI 4.9 to 14.0) in Wave 7 across 37 countries, and the gap changed by −2.5 (95% CI −5.7 to 0.6) points, an interval that includes zero. Young adults gave the top rating at 45.1% in Wave 5 and 47.0% in Wave 7, a change of +1.8 (95% CI −2.2 to 5.8) points, so they were not measurably less likely to give it in 2017 to 2023 than in 2004 to 2009. The cohort born 1978 to 1986 went from 44.2% to 51.6%, a change of +7.4 (95% CI 2.8 to 12.0) points that combines ageing with any period change. The cohort born 1987 or later was at 46.4% in Wave 7, a difference of +2.2 (95% CI −2.1 to 6.5) points from the earlier cohort at a similar age. If no period change moved the waves, the gradient looks like a difference between ages.

The United States is where the age results and the trend point the same way, with the mode caveat above. Among young Americans the share calling a democratic system good fell from 87.6% in 1995 to 77.7% in 2017, a change of −9.9 (95% CI −14.9 to −4.8) points. The share of young Americans calling army rule good rose in each of the five surveys, from 7.1% in 1995 to 11.1%, 18.1%, 23.5% and 29.9% in 1999, 2006, 2011 and 2017, a change of +22.8 (95% CI 18.1 to 27.5) points. That series runs through the changes of mode, so it shows a steady rise across modes and cannot show that mode played no part. The gap between young and older Americans in approval of army rule went from +1.1 (95% CI −2.5 to 4.7) points in 1995 to +17.1 (95% CI 12.3 to 21.9) in 2017. On the importance question, young Americans give the top rating 35.5 (95% CI 29.8 to 41.3) points less often than older Americans in 2017, against 9.5 in the set.

### Right and left differ on the alternatives

The left-right question asks respondents to place themselves on a ten-point scale from left to right. The right end is placements 7 and up, and the left end is placements up to 4. In Wave 7, in the 73 countries where both groups meet the floors (71 for army rule), adults at the right end were more likely than adults at the left end to call a strong leader good, by +7.1 (95% CI 4.9 to 9.3) points on average with equal weight per country. For army rule the difference is +4.5 (95% CI 2.7 to 6.4) points. For a democratic system it is −0.6 (95% CI −1.6 to 0.4) points, an interval that includes zero. The strong-leader difference is above zero in 38 countries and below zero in 3, and in 32 its interval includes zero (Table 7).

Table 7. In 38 of 73 countries the interval for the right-minus-left difference in approval of a strong leader lies above zero

The label does not mean the same thing everywhere, so gaps are not the same quantity across countries; Chapter 1.3, Left and right across countries (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/left-and-right-across-countries) shows which attitudes it tracks in each. In the median country 13.5% of respondents do not place themselves, against 2.3% in the United States, and they are outside these comparisons.

In the United States the right-left difference in approval of a strong leader is +16.2 (95% CI 10.4 to 22.0) points, larger than in all but 12 of the other countries. For army rule it is +13.2 (95% CI 8.6 to 17.8) points, and for a democratic system −7.1 (95% CI −11.1 to −3.2) points, so the right is less likely than the left to call a democratic system good. In 1995 the three differences were +0.6 (95% CI −6.7 to 7.9), −0.7 (95% CI −4.7 to 3.3) and −0.9 (95% CI −6.0 to 4.1) points, and each interval includes zero. Self-placement describes a group of respondents and not a party, and the file does not date the change or tie it to an election. Chapter 1.1, Party and ideology (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/party-and-ideology) covers how left-right placement and party identification line up in the United States.

### Among European countries that kept face-to-face interviews, media freedom ratings fell

The European Social Survey (ESS) asks how far features of democracy apply in the respondent's own country, on an eleven-point scale, in Round 6 (2012 to 2013) and Round 10 (2020 to 2022). It does not ask about a strong leader or army rule. In Round 10, 9 ESS countries switched from face-to-face interviews to self-completion by web and paper because of the pandemic, and the ESS advises caution about comparisons over time in those countries. Of the 24 countries with every item in both rounds, 6 switched. In the 18 that kept face-to-face interviews, the mean rating of whether the media are free to criticize the government fell from 7.21 to 6.83, a change of −0.38 (95% CI −0.72 to −0.04) points. It fell in 10 of them by each country's own interval. Satisfaction with how democracy works rose by +0.39 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.67) points. The ratings of free and fair elections (+0.13 (95% CI −0.15 to 0.41)), minority rights (+0.14 (95% CI −0.11 to 0.39)) and citizens' final say (−0.08 (95% CI −0.37 to 0.21)) have intervals that include zero.

Table 8. Where interviews stayed face to face, European ratings of whether the media are free to criticize the government fell by 0.38 points between Round 6 and Round 10

Across all 24 countries the media-freedom rating fell by 0.63 (95% CI 0.27 to 0.99) points. In the 6 countries that switched mode the change is −1.38 (95% CI −2.38 to −0.38) points, and satisfaction with democracy changed by −0.68 (95% CI −1.53 to 0.16) points. The two largest falls in the media-freedom rating, in Cyprus and Poland, are both countries that switched. The fall appears in both groups and is larger among the switchers, and the two intervals overlap, so mode and country differences cannot be separated here.

### Countries and fieldwork years

Table 9 lists the fixed set with the survey program, fieldwork years and respondents of each country in each wave. The set is not a sample of the world: it has post-communist countries of Europe and Central Asia, Latin American countries, Western and Northern European countries, the United States and a few countries in Asia and Oceania, and none in Africa or the Middle East. Albania is out for the reason above. Turkey is out because its Wave 7 survey has no army-rule item, and China, Poland and the United Kingdom are out because they were not surveyed in Wave 3.

Table 9. The fixed set has 39 countries, and 30 of them meet the floors for the age and cohort comparisons

### What these data cannot show

The questions ask whether four ways of governing the country would be good, not whether a respondent would act on the view, and a rating of a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections may mean different things to different respondents. Items on the legitimacy of elections and on political violence, which come closer to behavior, are in Chapter 5.4, Political violence and democratic norms (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/political-violence-and-democratic-norms). Confidence in institutions outside the United States is the subject of Planned, Institutional trust outside the United States (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/institutional-trust-outside-the-united-states; planned), and Chapter 5.1, Confidence in thirteen institutions (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/confidence-in-institutions) covers the United States.

Each wave interviews different people, so the chapter describes how distributions changed and not how individuals did. The data end in 2023 and say nothing about the period since the 2024 United States election.

Differences in how the surveys were run can look like change. The WVS file carries no interview-mode variable. The American survey was face to face in 1995, on the web in 2006 and by web and telephone in 2017, and the 2011 documentation describes an online panel while listing face-to-face interviews as the program standard. Part of the American change could therefore come from a change of mode. The program switch between Wave 3 and Wave 7 is confounded with region, the Wave 3 surveys are in effect unweighted, and Albania shows that a country-wave can look unlike its neighbors for reasons the file does not record. The top rating on the importance question depends on how respondents use a ten-point scale, which varies by country and age.

The age and cohort comparisons rest on assumptions that repeated cross-sections cannot test, and the left-right comparisons leave out respondents who do not place themselves. The ESS items measure evaluations of a country's democracy and not preferences among regimes, so the ESS cannot say whether appetite for an alternative rose in Europe. Nothing here is causal. The chapter does not say why approval of a strong leader rose or why young Americans differ.

## Tables

### Table 1. Stated support for a democratic system held at 89.7% in the fixed set of countries while approval of a strong leader rose to 48.1%

Share of adults calling each way of governing the country good (fairly or very good), equal-weight mean across the fixed set of countries, by wave, 1995 to 2023

| conf_high | conf_low | estimate | item | n | n_countries | scope | wave | x |
| ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | --- | --- | ---: |
| 16.42 | 9.66 | 13.04 | Army rule | 50,168 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 18.85 | 11.46 | 15.16 | Army rule | 67,524 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 25.50 | 15.81 | 20.66 | Army rule | 63,635 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 90.84 | 86.13 | 88.49 | Democratic system | 49,767 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 90.30 | 86.59 | 88.44 | Democratic system | 67,236 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 91.74 | 87.70 | 89.72 | Democratic system | 64,440 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 65.99 | 56.09 | 61.04 | Experts decide | 47,936 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 66.08 | 56.64 | 61.36 | Experts decide | 64,933 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 69.00 | 58.84 | 63.92 | Experts decide | 62,657 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 43.39 | 32.94 | 38.16 | Strong leader | 49,235 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 47.53 | 35.41 | 41.47 | Strong leader | 66,325 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 55.03 | 41.08 | 48.05 | Strong leader | 63,671 | 39 | Fixed set | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 13.01 | 7.67 | 10.34 | Army rule | 29,377 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 16.96 | 8.88 | 12.92 | Army rule | 49,579 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 26.21 | 13.32 | 19.76 | Army rule | 44,952 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 91.76 | 84.74 | 88.25 | Democratic system | 28,820 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 90.57 | 85.35 | 87.96 | Democratic system | 49,112 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 93.49 | 89.92 | 91.70 | Democratic system | 45,558 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 70.46 | 57.48 | 63.97 | Experts decide | 27,649 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 70.75 | 58.35 | 64.55 | Experts decide | 47,282 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 72.09 | 57.48 | 64.79 | Experts decide | 44,232 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 45.56 | 31.29 | 38.43 | Strong leader | 28,854 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 49.90 | 32.88 | 41.39 | Strong leader | 48,577 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 54.47 | 35.36 | 44.91 | Strong leader | 45,071 | 25 | Program switched | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 26.06 | 9.66 | 17.86 | Army rule | 20,791 | 14 | Same program | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 26.81 | 11.49 | 19.15 | Army rule | 17,945 | 14 | Same program | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 30.41 | 14.10 | 22.25 | Army rule | 18,683 | 14 | Same program | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 91.52 | 86.32 | 88.92 | Democratic system | 20,947 | 14 | Same program | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 91.93 | 86.69 | 89.31 | Democratic system | 18,124 | 14 | Same program | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 90.56 | 81.78 | 86.17 | Democratic system | 18,882 | 14 | Same program | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 63.55 | 48.06 | 55.80 | Experts decide | 20,287 | 14 | Same program | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 62.71 | 48.61 | 55.66 | Experts decide | 17,651 | 14 | Same program | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 69.10 | 55.66 | 62.38 | Experts decide | 18,425 | 14 | Same program | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 46.01 | 29.37 | 37.69 | Strong leader | 20,381 | 14 | Same program | Wave 3 | 1996 |
| 50.51 | 32.73 | 41.62 | Strong leader | 17,748 | 14 | Same program | Wave 5 | 2007 |
| 63.84 | 43.47 | 53.65 | Strong leader | 18,600 | 14 | Same program | Wave 7 | 2018 |
| 8.02 | 5.14 | 6.58 | Army rule | 1,476 | 1 | United States | Wave 3 | 1995 |
| 10.41 | 7.12 | 8.77 | Army rule | 1,179 | 1 | United States | Wave 4 | 1999 |
| 16.84 | 11.95 | 14.40 | Army rule | 1,203 | 1 | United States | Wave 5 | 2006 |
| 19.35 | 15.57 | 17.46 | Army rule | 2,170 | 1 | United States | Wave 6 | 2011 |
| 22.94 | 18.88 | 20.91 | Army rule | 2,528 | 1 | United States | Wave 7 | 2017 |
| 92.32 | 88.87 | 90.60 | Democratic system | 1,433 | 1 | United States | Wave 3 | 1995 |
| 90.95 | 87.28 | 89.12 | Democratic system | 1,153 | 1 | United States | Wave 4 | 1999 |
| 88.07 | 83.19 | 85.63 | Democratic system | 1,200 | 1 | United States | Wave 5 | 2006 |
| 84.22 | 80.42 | 82.32 | Democratic system | 2,164 | 1 | United States | Wave 6 | 2011 |
| 86.77 | 83.18 | 84.98 | Democratic system | 2,509 | 1 | United States | Wave 7 | 2017 |
| 39.38 | 33.69 | 36.53 | Experts decide | 1,427 | 1 | United States | Wave 3 | 1995 |
| 46.88 | 41.07 | 43.97 | Experts decide | 1,167 | 1 | United States | Wave 4 | 1999 |
| 48.96 | 42.01 | 45.49 | Experts decide | 1,202 | 1 | United States | Wave 5 | 2006 |
| 53.66 | 48.70 | 51.18 | Experts decide | 2,177 | 1 | United States | Wave 6 | 2011 |
| 55.05 | 50.06 | 52.55 | Experts decide | 2,535 | 1 | United States | Wave 7 | 2017 |
| 27.45 | 22.36 | 24.90 | Strong leader | 1,441 | 1 | United States | Wave 3 | 1995 |
| 32.22 | 26.91 | 29.56 | Strong leader | 1,179 | 1 | United States | Wave 4 | 1999 |
| 36.13 | 29.61 | 32.87 | Strong leader | 1,208 | 1 | United States | Wave 5 | 2006 |
| 37.42 | 32.68 | 35.05 | Strong leader | 2,178 | 1 | United States | Wave 6 | 2011 |
| 40.49 | 35.64 | 38.06 | Strong leader | 2,541 | 1 | United States | Wave 7 | 2017 |

Views: Fixed set of countries (scope = Fixed set); Same survey program (scope = Same program); Survey program switched (scope = Program switched); United States (scope = United States).

Note: Fixed set: countries with an effective sample of at least the floor on every item in Waves 3, 5 and 7, less Albania, whose Wave 3 survey has an implausible response pattern (see the text and the country table at the end of the chapter). Intervals for the fixed set are clustered by country (t critical value on one fewer degree of freedom than the number of countries); intervals for one country use the Kish effective sample size. The WVS file has no strata or sampling units, so no interval includes design effects.

Note: The position of a wave on the horizontal axis is the mean fieldwork year of the countries in it. In most countries the Wave 3 survey gives every respondent the same weight, so Wave 3 shares are in effect unweighted.

Note: Program: the program (WVS or EVS) with more respondents in the country and wave. Every country whose program switched is in Europe and Central Asia, and none of the others is. The American surveys differed in mode: face to face in 1995, web in 2006 and web and telephone in 2017.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/trend_items.json

### Table 2. The share calling a democratic system good rose in 18 countries, fell in 10 and held within sampling error in 11

Change from Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) to Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) in the share calling the way of governing good, percentage points, by country, with 95% intervals

| conf_high | conf_low | country | estimate | group | item | n | share_w3 | share_w7 |
| ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 47.78 | 39.62 | North Macedonia | 43.70 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,814 | 10.45 | 54.15 |
| 42.86 | 36.06 | Serbia | 39.46 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,251 | 10.19 | 49.65 |
| 41.82 | 30.36 | Montenegro | 36.09 | Other countries | Army rule | 954 | 9.63 | 45.72 |
| 22.94 | 16.09 | Mexico | 19.51 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,954 | 26.07 | 45.58 |
| 21.50 | 15.99 | Georgia | 18.74 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,854 | 11.07 | 29.81 |
| 21.64 | 14.37 | Peru | 18.01 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,383 | 18.04 | 36.04 |
| 20.09 | 14.22 | Armenia | 17.16 | Other countries | Army rule | 4,186 | 17.36 | 34.52 |
| 16.83 | 11.84 | United States | 14.33 | United States | Army rule | 4,004 | 6.58 | 20.91 |
| 17.53 | 10.33 | Bosnia Herzegovina | 13.93 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,760 | 24.08 | 38.01 |
| 14.83 | 9.96 | South Korea | 12.40 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,477 | 5.03 | 17.43 |
| 14.14 | 8.46 | Belarus | 11.30 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,195 | 14.40 | 25.70 |
| 15.09 | 7.42 | Uruguay | 11.26 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,860 | 8.16 | 19.42 |
| 14.57 | 7.87 | Romania | 11.22 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,464 | 24.77 | 35.99 |
| 12.96 | 8.83 | Slovakia | 10.90 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,489 | 4.90 | 15.80 |
| 13.64 | 6.52 | Ukraine | 10.08 | Other countries | Army rule | 4,623 | 11.84 | 21.92 |
| 12.15 | 5.40 | Croatia | 8.78 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,564 | 14.27 | 23.05 |
| 10.00 | 6.23 | Czechia | 8.11 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,910 | 5.07 | 13.19 |
| 10.33 | 5.46 | Lithuania | 7.90 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,260 | 5.79 | 13.69 |
| 6.66 | 2.15 | Australia | 4.40 | Other countries | Army rule | 3,648 | 6.36 | 10.77 |
| 7.48 | 0.447 | Argentina | 3.96 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,940 | 12.89 | 16.85 |
| 4.91 | 0.808 | Latvia | 2.86 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,368 | 5.21 | 8.07 |
| 6.12 | −1.39 | India | 2.37 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,707 | 36.62 | 38.99 |
| 4.26 | −0.173 | Hungary | 2.04 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,051 | 4.93 | 6.98 |
| 3.83 | 0.021 | Sweden | 1.93 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,151 | 3.75 | 5.68 |
| 3.47 | −1.50 | Spain | 0.981 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,227 | 9.14 | 10.12 |
| 1.48 | −1.21 | New Zealand | 0.137 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,000 | 2.34 | 2.47 |
| 0.739 | −0.600 | Germany | 0.070 | Other countries | Army rule | 5,585 | 1.46 | 1.52 |
| 0.982 | −1.65 | Japan | −0.335 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,096 | 2.53 | 2.19 |
| 1.13 | −2.31 | Norway | −0.589 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,220 | 4.59 | 4.00 |
| 1.03 | −2.65 | Estonia | −0.812 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,112 | 4.99 | 4.18 |
| 0.639 | −2.52 | Switzerland | −0.938 | Other countries | Army rule | 4,237 | 4.86 | 3.92 |
| 1.48 | −3.71 | Russia | −1.12 | Other countries | Army rule | 4,879 | 20.98 | 19.86 |
| 0.965 | −3.27 | Slovenia | −1.15 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,995 | 6.43 | 5.28 |
| 2.60 | −5.28 | Brazil | −1.34 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,504 | 45.46 | 44.12 |
| 1.70 | −5.27 | Bulgaria | −1.79 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,123 | 16.93 | 15.15 |
| 0.369 | −6.58 | Taiwan ROC | −3.11 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,926 | 15.58 | 12.48 |
| −0.471 | −5.92 | Finland | −3.19 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,057 | 11.36 | 8.17 |
| −5.91 | −10.92 | Colombia | −8.42 | Other countries | Army rule | 7,208 | 33.61 | 25.20 |
| −6.60 | −16.80 | Chile | −11.70 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,767 | 30.81 | 19.11 |
| 25.07 | 19.08 | Russia | 22.07 | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,738 | 57.61 | 79.68 |
| 20.62 | 14.29 | Finland | 17.46 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,036 | 76.57 | 94.03 |
| 15.84 | 11.24 | Belarus | 13.54 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,161 | 79.78 | 93.32 |
| 13.49 | 7.58 | North Macedonia | 10.53 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,886 | 83.69 | 94.22 |
| 10.81 | 5.12 | Bulgaria | 7.97 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,211 | 85.58 | 93.55 |
| 8.35 | 1.63 | Ukraine | 4.99 | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,458 | 80.16 | 85.14 |
| 7.40 | 2.17 | Latvia | 4.79 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,285 | 86.62 | 91.41 |
| 7.16 | 2.06 | Estonia | 4.61 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,074 | 88.64 | 93.25 |
| 7.16 | 1.32 | Slovenia | 4.24 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,960 | 86.19 | 90.43 |
| 6.07 | 1.36 | Armenia | 3.72 | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,196 | 84.36 | 88.07 |
| 4.76 | 1.15 | Switzerland | 2.96 | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,203 | 93.23 | 96.18 |
| 5.49 | 0.054 | Brazil | 2.77 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,564 | 84.84 | 87.61 |
| 3.68 | 1.71 | Germany | 2.70 | Other countries | Democratic system | 5,547 | 95.74 | 98.44 |
| 5.05 | 0.317 | New Zealand | 2.68 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,912 | 91.08 | 93.76 |
| 5.03 | 0.268 | Japan | 2.65 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,090 | 90.52 | 93.17 |
| 5.23 | −0.337 | Lithuania | 2.45 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,162 | 87.60 | 90.05 |
| 3.97 | 0.895 | Sweden | 2.43 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,148 | 95.71 | 98.14 |
| 4.71 | −0.687 | Hungary | 2.01 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,040 | 90.92 | 92.94 |
| 3.85 | 0.021 | Georgia | 1.94 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,804 | 90.62 | 92.55 |
| 4.24 | −0.645 | Australia | 1.80 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,604 | 87.96 | 89.76 |
| 3.01 | 0.171 | Norway | 1.59 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,217 | 96.30 | 97.89 |
| 2.10 | −1.58 | Spain | 0.262 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,316 | 94.64 | 94.90 |
| 2.20 | −2.89 | Taiwan ROC | −0.347 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,943 | 93.14 | 92.79 |
| 1.59 | −3.16 | Peru | −0.786 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,430 | 91.41 | 90.62 |
| 1.19 | −2.99 | Romania | −0.898 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,672 | 91.38 | 90.48 |
| 0.565 | −4.15 | Uruguay | −1.79 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,898 | 96.09 | 94.30 |
| 0.176 | −3.93 | Bosnia Herzegovina | −1.87 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,839 | 93.38 | 91.50 |
| 0.631 | −4.65 | Argentina | −2.01 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,015 | 92.94 | 90.93 |
| −0.173 | −4.48 | Czechia | −2.33 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,895 | 90.75 | 88.42 |
| −0.456 | −5.63 | Serbia | −3.04 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,271 | 90.44 | 87.40 |
| −0.688 | −6.74 | Mexico | −3.72 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,988 | 79.55 | 75.83 |
| 0.786 | −8.35 | Chile | −3.78 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,845 | 84.89 | 81.11 |
| −2.41 | −5.67 | Croatia | −4.04 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,592 | 98.44 | 94.40 |
| −3.22 | −7.57 | Slovakia | −5.39 | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,515 | 92.41 | 87.02 |
| −3.13 | −8.11 | United States | −5.62 | United States | Democratic system | 3,942 | 90.60 | 84.98 |
| −2.72 | −9.89 | Montenegro | −6.31 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,152 | 95.45 | 89.15 |
| −5.27 | −10.22 | India | −7.74 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,843 | 91.94 | 84.20 |
| −5.81 | −10.41 | Colombia | −8.11 | Other countries | Democratic system | 7,279 | 85.34 | 77.24 |
| −11.28 | −17.77 | South Korea | −14.53 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,476 | 84.57 | 70.04 |
| 38.30 | 31.36 | Romania | 34.83 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,586 | 49.05 | 83.89 |
| 30.46 | 19.66 | Uruguay | 25.06 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,804 | 39.90 | 64.96 |
| 28.97 | 20.28 | Estonia | 24.62 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,972 | 45.25 | 69.87 |
| 20.39 | 12.66 | Australia | 16.53 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,612 | 42.03 | 58.56 |
| 19.80 | 12.24 | United States | 16.02 | United States | Experts decide | 3,962 | 36.53 | 52.55 |
| 19.14 | 12.37 | Belarus | 15.75 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,011 | 56.83 | 72.58 |
| 17.94 | 11.16 | Mexico | 14.55 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,951 | 61.69 | 76.24 |
| 18.45 | 10.30 | Latvia | 14.37 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,219 | 55.90 | 70.27 |
| 18.54 | 10.03 | Bulgaria | 14.28 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,065 | 66.71 | 81.00 |
| 17.86 | 9.76 | Peru | 13.81 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,328 | 56.24 | 70.05 |
| 15.68 | 8.30 | North Macedonia | 11.99 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,847 | 75.55 | 87.54 |
| 13.20 | 6.30 | Armenia | 9.75 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,998 | 53.66 | 63.41 |
| 11.12 | 4.32 | Georgia | 7.72 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,671 | 58.41 | 66.13 |
| 11.83 | 2.21 | Taiwan ROC | 7.02 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,924 | 59.86 | 66.88 |
| 12.16 | −0.117 | Chile | 6.02 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,764 | 44.32 | 50.35 |
| 9.60 | 2.23 | India | 5.91 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,462 | 66.61 | 72.53 |
| 8.87 | 2.73 | Croatia | 5.80 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,559 | 81.98 | 87.78 |
| 10.51 | 0.495 | Argentina | 5.50 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,825 | 53.48 | 58.99 |
| 9.24 | 0.778 | Spain | 5.01 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,090 | 58.75 | 63.75 |
| 6.49 | 1.54 | Colombia | 4.01 | Other countries | Experts decide | 7,246 | 70.92 | 74.93 |
| 7.07 | −0.052 | Slovenia | 3.51 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,936 | 79.59 | 83.10 |
| 5.89 | −2.21 | Norway | 1.84 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,208 | 33.82 | 35.65 |
| 4.78 | −4.04 | New Zealand | 0.367 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,960 | 43.71 | 44.08 |
| 2.75 | −6.02 | Sweden | −1.64 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,128 | 39.05 | 37.42 |
| 1.10 | −4.93 | Brazil | −1.92 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,524 | 83.09 | 81.17 |
| 0.953 | −5.68 | Bosnia Herzegovina | −2.36 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,776 | 78.16 | 75.80 |
| 0.596 | −5.39 | Serbia | −2.40 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,374 | 84.84 | 82.44 |
| −0.375 | −11.35 | Montenegro | −5.86 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,088 | 86.10 | 80.23 |
| −3.71 | −12.80 | Japan | −8.25 | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,875 | 57.27 | 49.01 |
| −5.70 | −11.54 | Slovakia | −8.62 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,440 | 84.46 | 75.84 |
| −4.32 | −13.32 | Finland | −8.82 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,043 | 64.60 | 55.78 |
| −5.41 | −12.89 | Hungary | −9.15 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,007 | 84.73 | 75.58 |
| −5.25 | −14.19 | Lithuania | −9.72 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,038 | 49.88 | 40.16 |
| −5.59 | −15.11 | Ukraine | −10.35 | Other countries | Experts decide | 4,052 | 61.24 | 50.89 |
| −8.35 | −16.00 | Switzerland | −12.17 | Other countries | Experts decide | 4,093 | 46.57 | 34.40 |
| −8.76 | −16.44 | South Korea | −12.60 | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,475 | 65.61 | 53.01 |
| −13.19 | −19.82 | Russia | −16.51 | Other countries | Experts decide | 4,560 | 59.21 | 42.70 |
| −16.47 | −22.53 | Czechia | −19.50 | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,777 | 82.26 | 62.76 |
| −19.24 | −24.74 | Germany | −21.99 | Other countries | Experts decide | 5,343 | 62.67 | 40.68 |
| 56.07 | 42.43 | Montenegro | 49.25 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,101 | 25.37 | 74.62 |
| 40.90 | 31.49 | Argentina | 36.19 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,860 | 29.28 | 65.47 |
| 38.69 | 31.32 | South Korea | 35.00 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,483 | 31.74 | 66.75 |
| 38.45 | 30.49 | Peru | 34.47 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,331 | 34.76 | 69.23 |
| 36.06 | 29.10 | Romania | 32.58 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,595 | 47.24 | 79.82 |
| 32.96 | 25.22 | Serbia | 29.09 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,350 | 31.07 | 60.16 |
| 31.63 | 22.05 | Taiwan ROC | 26.84 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,931 | 40.99 | 67.83 |
| 29.83 | 22.77 | Mexico | 26.30 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,939 | 45.35 | 71.65 |
| 28.40 | 17.66 | Uruguay | 23.03 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,770 | 27.24 | 50.27 |
| 22.91 | 14.31 | North Macedonia | 18.61 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,805 | 62.38 | 80.99 |
| 17.57 | 11.01 | Armenia | 14.29 | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,199 | 54.21 | 68.50 |
| 18.32 | 9.80 | Ukraine | 14.06 | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,598 | 54.46 | 68.52 |
| 16.67 | 9.65 | United States | 13.16 | United States | Strong leader | 3,982 | 24.90 | 38.06 |
| 16.14 | 9.42 | Belarus | 12.78 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,232 | 55.20 | 67.99 |
| 17.27 | 5.23 | Chile | 11.25 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,776 | 35.21 | 46.46 |
| 14.26 | 8.12 | Georgia | 11.19 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,850 | 65.90 | 77.09 |
| 13.30 | 7.03 | Slovakia | 10.17 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,429 | 19.02 | 29.19 |
| 14.07 | 5.83 | Croatia | 9.95 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,563 | 30.28 | 40.23 |
| 10.81 | 6.62 | Germany | 8.72 | Other countries | Strong leader | 5,407 | 13.75 | 22.46 |
| 11.42 | 5.79 | Czechia | 8.61 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,800 | 15.89 | 24.50 |
| 11.44 | 4.35 | Australia | 7.89 | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,627 | 24.15 | 32.04 |
| 11.91 | 3.54 | Latvia | 7.72 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,287 | 46.13 | 53.85 |
| 8.57 | 2.99 | Colombia | 5.78 | Other countries | Strong leader | 7,193 | 53.50 | 59.28 |
| 8.68 | 1.09 | Brazil | 4.89 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,555 | 60.57 | 65.45 |
| 8.29 | 0.212 | Slovenia | 4.25 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,970 | 25.13 | 29.38 |
| 7.41 | −0.356 | Hungary | 3.53 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,033 | 18.75 | 22.28 |
| 4.77 | −2.53 | India | 1.12 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,575 | 68.03 | 69.15 |
| 3.83 | −2.13 | Norway | 0.851 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,220 | 13.94 | 14.79 |
| 4.00 | −4.29 | Japan | −0.149 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,999 | 32.40 | 32.25 |
| 4.38 | −4.87 | Bulgaria | −0.243 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,083 | 62.33 | 62.09 |
| 1.14 | −5.72 | New Zealand | −2.29 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,960 | 19.54 | 17.25 |
| −0.651 | −8.30 | Spain | −4.48 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,138 | 29.56 | 25.08 |
| −2.49 | −8.88 | Russia | −5.68 | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,935 | 50.41 | 44.72 |
| −2.13 | −10.05 | Bosnia Herzegovina | −6.09 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,756 | 53.27 | 47.18 |
| −3.27 | −10.79 | Sweden | −7.03 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,143 | 26.45 | 19.42 |
| −4.06 | −12.45 | Lithuania | −8.25 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,222 | 63.75 | 55.50 |
| −7.18 | −14.20 | Switzerland | −10.69 | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,082 | 31.19 | 20.50 |
| −8.96 | −16.36 | Finland | −12.66 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,069 | 27.52 | 14.86 |
| −14.47 | −22.36 | Estonia | −18.41 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,058 | 37.54 | 19.13 |

Views: Democratic system (item = Democratic system); Strong leader (item = Strong leader); Army rule (item = Army rule); Experts decide (item = Experts decide).

Note: Intervals are for each country alone and treat its weighted sample as a simple random sample; they omit design effects. Albania is left out of the set (see the text).

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/change_by_country.json

### Table 3. The share calling a democratic system good and rejecting both alternatives fell from 55.3% to 44.9% in the fixed set

Share of adults by combination of answers on the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items, equal-weight mean across the fixed set of countries, by wave

| conf_high | conf_low | estimate | group | n | n_countries | scope | x |
| ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: |
| 37.95 | 28.44 | 33.19 | Democracy and an alternative | 45,779 | 39 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 43.22 | 31.83 | 37.52 | Democracy and an alternative | 61,691 | 39 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 51.01 | 37.95 | 44.48 | Democracy and an alternative | 59,782 | 39 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 60.96 | 49.72 | 55.34 | Democracy only | 45,779 | 39 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 57.00 | 44.42 | 50.71 | Democracy only | 61,691 | 39 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 52.39 | 37.42 | 44.90 | Democracy only | 59,782 | 39 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 13.81 | 9.12 | 11.47 | Does not call a democratic system good | 45,779 | 39 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 13.68 | 9.86 | 11.77 | Does not call a democratic system good | 61,691 | 39 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 12.71 | 8.53 | 10.62 | Does not call a democratic system good | 59,782 | 39 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 24.87 | 19.83 | 22.35 | Democracy and an alternative | 1,370 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 29.30 | 24.06 | 26.68 | Democracy and an alternative | 1,138 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 31.29 | 25.01 | 28.15 | Democracy and an alternative | 1,193 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 31.60 | 27.04 | 29.32 | Democracy and an alternative | 2,145 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 35.82 | 31.05 | 33.43 | Democracy and an alternative | 2,479 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| 71.00 | 65.37 | 68.18 | Democracy only | 1,370 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 65.16 | 59.41 | 62.29 | Democracy only | 1,138 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 60.92 | 54.01 | 57.46 | Democracy only | 1,193 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 55.39 | 50.40 | 52.90 | Democracy only | 2,145 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 54.06 | 48.99 | 51.52 | Democracy only | 2,479 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| 11.24 | 7.70 | 9.47 | Does not call a democratic system good | 1,370 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 12.89 | 9.17 | 11.03 | Does not call a democratic system good | 1,138 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 16.84 | 11.94 | 14.39 | Does not call a democratic system good | 1,193 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 19.70 | 15.87 | 17.79 | Does not call a democratic system good | 2,145 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 16.85 | 13.23 | 15.04 | Does not call a democratic system good | 2,479 | 1 | United States | 2017 |

Views: Fixed set of countries (scope = Fixed set); United States (scope = United States).

Note: Respondents who answered all three items. Intervals for the fixed set are clustered by country (t critical value on one fewer degree of freedom than the number of countries); intervals for one country use the Kish effective sample size. The WVS file has no strata or sampling units, so no interval includes design effects.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/committed.json

### Table 4. In Wave 7 the United States is below the median country on a democratic system and a strong leader and at the median on army rule

Weighted share of adults calling each way of governing good, or giving the top rating on importance, by country, Wave 7 (2017 to 2023)

| country | group | measure | n | panel_view | value |
| --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- | ---: |
| Albania | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,413 | Shares | 98.01 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Democratic system | 998 | Shares | 96.59 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Democratic system | 973 | Shares | 90.93 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,566 | Shares | 88.07 |
| Australia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,732 | Shares | 89.76 |
| Austria | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,622 | Shares | 95.95 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,690 | Shares | 96.47 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,100 | Shares | 89.73 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,435 | Shares | 93.32 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,963 | Shares | 88.39 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,676 | Shares | 91.50 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,469 | Shares | 87.61 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,372 | Shares | 93.55 |
| Canada | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,018 | Shares | 89.16 |
| Chile | Other countries | Democratic system | 910 | Shares | 81.11 |
| China | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,980 | Shares | 91.87 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,520 | Shares | 77.24 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,437 | Shares | 94.40 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Democratic system | 950 | Shares | 93.39 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,803 | Shares | 88.42 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,320 | Shares | 96.92 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,164 | Shares | 83.76 |
| Egypt | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,013 | Shares | 97.53 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,141 | Shares | 93.25 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,188 | Shares | 93.35 |
| Finland | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,131 | Shares | 94.03 |
| France | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,799 | Shares | 92.99 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,003 | Shares | 92.55 |
| Germany | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,573 | Shares | 98.44 |
| Greece | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,193 | Shares | 97.98 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,229 | Shares | 84.62 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,022 | Shares | 81.56 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,445 | Shares | 92.94 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,594 | Shares | 98.94 |
| India | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,267 | Shares | 84.20 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,123 | Shares | 90.83 |
| Iran | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,476 | Shares | 96.95 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,167 | Shares | 59.30 |
| Italy | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,203 | Shares | 96.65 |
| Japan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,172 | Shares | 93.17 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,016 | Shares | 75.20 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,107 | Shares | 82.20 |
| Kenya | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,222 | Shares | 77.99 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,023 | Shares | 76.90 |
| Latvia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,186 | Shares | 91.41 |
| Lebanon | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,183 | Shares | 76.75 |
| Libya | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,139 | Shares | 91.22 |
| Lithuania | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,315 | Shares | 90.05 |
| Macau SAR | Other countries | Democratic system | 806 | Shares | 80.15 |
| Malaysia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,312 | Shares | 88.34 |
| Maldives | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,016 | Shares | 69.29 |
| Mexico | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,702 | Shares | 75.83 |
| Mongolia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,638 | Shares | 73.67 |
| Montenegro | Other countries | Democratic system | 932 | Shares | 89.15 |
| Morocco | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,200 | Shares | 87.75 |
| Myanmar | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,200 | Shares | 95.33 |
| Netherlands | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,977 | Shares | 95.58 |
| New Zealand | Other countries | Democratic system | 914 | Shares | 93.76 |
| Nicaragua | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,137 | Shares | 84.61 |
| Nigeria | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,233 | Shares | 88.19 |
| North Macedonia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,034 | Shares | 94.22 |
| Northern Ireland | Other countries | Democratic system | 400 | Shares | 93.29 |
| Norway | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,109 | Shares | 97.89 |
| Pakistan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,873 | Shares | 75.97 |
| Peru | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,336 | Shares | 90.62 |
| Philippines | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,196 | Shares | 73.92 |
| Poland | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,244 | Shares | 89.94 |
| Portugal | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,071 | Shares | 96.11 |
| Puerto Rico | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,099 | Shares | 86.81 |
| Romania | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,582 | Shares | 90.48 |
| Russia | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,148 | Shares | 79.68 |
| Serbia | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,183 | Shares | 87.40 |
| Singapore | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,885 | Shares | 91.37 |
| Slovakia | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,474 | Shares | 87.02 |
| Slovenia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,033 | Shares | 90.43 |
| South Korea | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,245 | Shares | 70.04 |
| Spain | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,176 | Shares | 94.90 |
| Sweden | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,170 | Shares | 98.14 |
| Switzerland | Other countries | Democratic system | 3,111 | Shares | 96.18 |
| Taiwan ROC | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,200 | Shares | 92.79 |
| Tajikistan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,200 | Shares | 94.50 |
| Thailand | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,467 | Shares | 87.68 |
| Tunisia | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,175 | Shares | 73.28 |
| Turkey | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,244 | Shares | 82.62 |
| Ukraine | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,523 | Shares | 85.14 |
| United Kingdom | Other countries | Democratic system | 4,102 | Shares | 92.60 |
| United States | United States | Democratic system | 2,509 | Shares | 84.98 |
| Uruguay | Other countries | Democratic system | 933 | Shares | 94.30 |
| Uzbekistan | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,071 | Shares | 77.03 |
| Venezuela | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,190 | Shares | 88.49 |
| Vietnam | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,130 | Shares | 91.59 |
| Zimbabwe | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,192 | Shares | 91.78 |
| Albania | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,398 | Shares | 23.35 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Strong leader | 997 | Shares | 22.67 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Strong leader | 881 | Shares | 65.47 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,535 | Shares | 68.50 |
| Australia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,732 | Shares | 32.04 |
| Austria | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,572 | Shares | 14.87 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,619 | Shares | 74.72 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,059 | Shares | 22.76 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,397 | Shares | 67.99 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,895 | Shares | 65.75 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,641 | Shares | 47.18 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,462 | Shares | 65.45 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,284 | Shares | 62.09 |
| Canada | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,018 | Shares | 24.17 |
| Chile | Other countries | Strong leader | 849 | Shares | 46.46 |
| China | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,975 | Shares | 41.63 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,520 | Shares | 59.28 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,427 | Shares | 40.23 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Strong leader | 860 | Shares | 51.22 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,730 | Shares | 24.50 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,298 | Shares | 21.04 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,167 | Shares | 76.35 |
| Egypt | Other countries | Strong leader | 935 | Shares | 35.08 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,131 | Shares | 19.13 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,156 | Shares | 42.91 |
| Finland | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,146 | Shares | 14.86 |
| France | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,769 | Shares | 24.40 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,076 | Shares | 77.09 |
| Germany | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,443 | Shares | 22.46 |
| Greece | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,174 | Shares | 9.21 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,229 | Shares | 72.50 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,023 | Shares | 33.70 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,441 | Shares | 22.28 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,584 | Shares | 11.66 |
| India | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,252 | Shares | 69.15 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,129 | Shares | 60.49 |
| Iran | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,461 | Shares | 53.39 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,174 | Shares | 67.89 |
| Italy | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,156 | Shares | 33.16 |
| Japan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,141 | Shares | 32.25 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,058 | Shares | 52.17 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,110 | Shares | 77.93 |
| Kenya | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,227 | Shares | 55.75 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,042 | Shares | 72.21 |
| Latvia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,190 | Shares | 53.85 |
| Lebanon | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,178 | Shares | 37.69 |
| Libya | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,135 | Shares | 53.74 |
| Lithuania | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,320 | Shares | 55.50 |
| Macau SAR | Other countries | Strong leader | 809 | Shares | 40.05 |
| Malaysia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,312 | Shares | 69.89 |
| Maldives | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,015 | Shares | 34.48 |
| Mexico | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,691 | Shares | 71.65 |
| Mongolia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,638 | Shares | 75.03 |
| Montenegro | Other countries | Strong leader | 896 | Shares | 74.62 |
| Morocco | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,200 | Shares | 57.67 |
| Myanmar | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,200 | Shares | 73.17 |
| Netherlands | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,880 | Shares | 35.56 |
| New Zealand | Other countries | Strong leader | 916 | Shares | 17.25 |
| Nicaragua | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,137 | Shares | 61.92 |
| Nigeria | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,222 | Shares | 60.17 |
| North Macedonia | Other countries | Strong leader | 973 | Shares | 80.99 |
| Northern Ireland | Other countries | Strong leader | 397 | Shares | 29.35 |
| Norway | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,108 | Shares | 14.79 |
| Pakistan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,843 | Shares | 49.48 |
| Peru | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,304 | Shares | 69.23 |
| Philippines | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,199 | Shares | 75.20 |
| Poland | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,265 | Shares | 17.30 |
| Portugal | Other countries | Strong leader | 951 | Shares | 54.17 |
| Puerto Rico | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,107 | Shares | 55.10 |
| Romania | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,545 | Shares | 79.82 |
| Russia | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,211 | Shares | 44.72 |
| Serbia | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,214 | Shares | 60.16 |
| Singapore | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,801 | Shares | 31.47 |
| Slovakia | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,409 | Shares | 29.19 |
| Slovenia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,027 | Shares | 29.38 |
| South Korea | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,245 | Shares | 66.75 |
| Spain | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,101 | Shares | 25.08 |
| Sweden | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,160 | Shares | 19.42 |
| Switzerland | Other countries | Strong leader | 3,062 | Shares | 20.50 |
| Taiwan ROC | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,187 | Shares | 67.83 |
| Tajikistan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,200 | Shares | 73.33 |
| Thailand | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,460 | Shares | 91.18 |
| Tunisia | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,164 | Shares | 21.65 |
| Turkey | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,138 | Shares | 55.85 |
| Ukraine | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,604 | Shares | 68.52 |
| United Kingdom | Other countries | Strong leader | 4,088 | Shares | 25.92 |
| United States | United States | Strong leader | 2,541 | Shares | 38.06 |
| Uruguay | Other countries | Strong leader | 879 | Shares | 50.27 |
| Uzbekistan | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,081 | Shares | 77.15 |
| Venezuela | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,190 | Shares | 55.63 |
| Vietnam | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,094 | Shares | 92.87 |
| Zimbabwe | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,187 | Shares | 39.26 |
| Albania | Other countries | Army rule | 1,377 | Shares | 17.04 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Army rule | 982 | Shares | 5.80 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Army rule | 941 | Shares | 16.85 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Army rule | 2,498 | Shares | 34.52 |
| Australia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,735 | Shares | 10.77 |
| Austria | Other countries | Army rule | 1,595 | Shares | 5.35 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,566 | Shares | 10.85 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Army rule | 1,079 | Shares | 38.92 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Army rule | 1,376 | Shares | 25.70 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,949 | Shares | 17.65 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Army rule | 1,622 | Shares | 38.01 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Army rule | 1,413 | Shares | 44.12 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Army rule | 1,314 | Shares | 15.15 |
| Canada | Other countries | Army rule | 4,018 | Shares | 13.48 |
| Chile | Other countries | Army rule | 870 | Shares | 19.11 |
| China | Other countries | Army rule | 2,956 | Shares | 41.18 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,520 | Shares | 25.20 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,408 | Shares | 23.05 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Army rule | 461 | Shares | 8.24 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Army rule | 2,806 | Shares | 13.19 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Army rule | 3,320 | Shares | 5.15 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Army rule | 1,166 | Shares | 23.93 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,151 | Shares | 4.18 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,170 | Shares | 33.33 |
| Finland | Other countries | Army rule | 1,133 | Shares | 8.17 |
| France | Other countries | Army rule | 1,800 | Shares | 13.06 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Army rule | 2,038 | Shares | 29.81 |
| Germany | Other countries | Army rule | 3,592 | Shares | 1.52 |
| Greece | Other countries | Army rule | 1,181 | Shares | 5.90 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Army rule | 1,229 | Shares | 35.56 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Army rule | 2,028 | Shares | 12.66 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Army rule | 1,443 | Shares | 6.98 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Army rule | 1,590 | Shares | 1.06 |
| India | Other countries | Army rule | 1,186 | Shares | 38.99 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Army rule | 3,134 | Shares | 65.14 |
| Iran | Other countries | Army rule | 1,473 | Shares | 43.04 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Army rule | 1,160 | Shares | 48.28 |
| Italy | Other countries | Army rule | 2,160 | Shares | 10.43 |
| Japan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,186 | Shares | 2.19 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,053 | Shares | 38.94 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,031 | Shares | 39.38 |
| Kenya | Other countries | Army rule | 1,209 | Shares | 39.29 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,026 | Shares | 47.16 |
| Latvia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,236 | Shares | 8.07 |
| Lebanon | Other countries | Army rule | 1,176 | Shares | 65.39 |
| Libya | Other countries | Army rule | 1,131 | Shares | 57.56 |
| Lithuania | Other countries | Army rule | 1,345 | Shares | 13.69 |
| Macau SAR | Other countries | Army rule | 808 | Shares | 19.80 |
| Malaysia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,312 | Shares | 45.88 |
| Maldives | Other countries | Army rule | 1,015 | Shares | 16.55 |
| Mexico | Other countries | Army rule | 1,692 | Shares | 45.58 |
| Mongolia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,638 | Shares | 39.11 |
| Montenegro | Other countries | Army rule | 736 | Shares | 45.72 |
| Morocco | Other countries | Army rule | 1,200 | Shares | 25.50 |
| Myanmar | Other countries | Army rule | 1,200 | Shares | 71.58 |
| Netherlands | Other countries | Army rule | 4,060 | Shares | 3.72 |
| New Zealand | Other countries | Army rule | 930 | Shares | 2.47 |
| Nicaragua | Other countries | Army rule | 1,137 | Shares | 17.85 |
| Nigeria | Other countries | Army rule | 1,223 | Shares | 40.38 |
| North Macedonia | Other countries | Army rule | 972 | Shares | 54.15 |
| Northern Ireland | Other countries | Army rule | 397 | Shares | 11.21 |
| Norway | Other countries | Army rule | 1,108 | Shares | 4.00 |
| Pakistan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,895 | Shares | 60.53 |
| Peru | Other countries | Army rule | 1,324 | Shares | 36.04 |
| Philippines | Other countries | Army rule | 1,200 | Shares | 63.44 |
| Poland | Other countries | Army rule | 1,223 | Shares | 21.41 |
| Portugal | Other countries | Army rule | 940 | Shares | 16.27 |
| Puerto Rico | Other countries | Army rule | 1,105 | Shares | 15.38 |
| Romania | Other countries | Army rule | 2,386 | Shares | 35.99 |
| Russia | Other countries | Army rule | 3,177 | Shares | 19.86 |
| Serbia | Other countries | Army rule | 2,152 | Shares | 49.65 |
| Singapore | Other countries | Army rule | 1,873 | Shares | 9.51 |
| Slovakia | Other countries | Army rule | 2,448 | Shares | 15.80 |
| Slovenia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,046 | Shares | 5.28 |
| South Korea | Other countries | Army rule | 1,245 | Shares | 17.43 |
| Spain | Other countries | Army rule | 1,134 | Shares | 10.12 |
| Sweden | Other countries | Army rule | 1,165 | Shares | 5.68 |
| Switzerland | Other countries | Army rule | 3,121 | Shares | 3.92 |
| Taiwan ROC | Other countries | Army rule | 1,188 | Shares | 12.48 |
| Tajikistan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,200 | Shares | 65.25 |
| Thailand | Other countries | Army rule | 1,462 | Shares | 61.58 |
| Tunisia | Other countries | Army rule | 1,156 | Shares | 29.76 |
| Ukraine | Other countries | Army rule | 2,545 | Shares | 21.92 |
| United Kingdom | Other countries | Army rule | 4,127 | Shares | 13.70 |
| United States | United States | Army rule | 2,528 | Shares | 20.91 |
| Uruguay | Other countries | Army rule | 925 | Shares | 19.42 |
| Uzbekistan | Other countries | Army rule | 1,000 | Shares | 50.50 |
| Venezuela | Other countries | Army rule | 1,190 | Shares | 20.76 |
| Vietnam | Other countries | Army rule | 1,105 | Shares | 83.89 |
| Zimbabwe | Other countries | Army rule | 1,176 | Shares | 26.19 |
| Albania | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,396 | Shares | 89.74 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Experts decide | 991 | Shares | 60.85 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Experts decide | 875 | Shares | 58.99 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,496 | Shares | 63.41 |
| Australia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,728 | Shares | 58.56 |
| Austria | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,504 | Shares | 56.85 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,545 | Shares | 47.09 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,026 | Shares | 55.56 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,371 | Shares | 72.58 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,922 | Shares | 74.51 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,645 | Shares | 75.80 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,436 | Shares | 81.17 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,344 | Shares | 81.00 |
| Canada | Other countries | Experts decide | 4,018 | Shares | 55.21 |
| Chile | Other countries | Experts decide | 842 | Shares | 50.35 |
| China | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,961 | Shares | 37.40 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,520 | Shares | 74.93 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,438 | Shares | 87.78 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Experts decide | 827 | Shares | 55.49 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,695 | Shares | 62.76 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,272 | Shares | 39.93 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,174 | Shares | 74.62 |
| Egypt | Other countries | Experts decide | 908 | Shares | 72.36 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,046 | Shares | 69.87 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,160 | Shares | 60.69 |
| Finland | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,125 | Shares | 55.78 |
| France | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,724 | Shares | 51.97 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,988 | Shares | 66.13 |
| Germany | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,414 | Shares | 40.68 |
| Greece | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,094 | Shares | 22.18 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,229 | Shares | 80.07 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,017 | Shares | 46.23 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,411 | Shares | 75.58 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,555 | Shares | 55.86 |
| India | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,201 | Shares | 72.53 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,119 | Shares | 69.91 |
| Iran | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,474 | Shares | 73.34 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,160 | Shares | 60.43 |
| Italy | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,093 | Shares | 41.77 |
| Japan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,063 | Shares | 49.01 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,049 | Shares | 50.52 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,011 | Shares | 66.17 |
| Kenya | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,225 | Shares | 65.22 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,006 | Shares | 62.97 |
| Latvia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,185 | Shares | 70.27 |
| Lebanon | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,180 | Shares | 65 |
| Libya | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,144 | Shares | 58.30 |
| Lithuania | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,230 | Shares | 40.16 |
| Macau SAR | Other countries | Experts decide | 808 | Shares | 54.08 |
| Malaysia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,312 | Shares | 77.21 |
| Maldives | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,019 | Shares | 62.12 |
| Mexico | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,693 | Shares | 76.24 |
| Mongolia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,638 | Shares | 67.93 |
| Montenegro | Other countries | Experts decide | 865 | Shares | 80.23 |
| Morocco | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,200 | Shares | 61.92 |
| Myanmar | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,200 | Shares | 68.83 |
| Netherlands | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,821 | Shares | 53.96 |
| New Zealand | Other countries | Experts decide | 903 | Shares | 44.08 |
| Nicaragua | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,137 | Shares | 70.01 |
| Nigeria | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,217 | Shares | 66.52 |
| North Macedonia | Other countries | Experts decide | 988 | Shares | 87.54 |
| Northern Ireland | Other countries | Experts decide | 391 | Shares | 64.63 |
| Norway | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,102 | Shares | 35.65 |
| Pakistan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,867 | Shares | 58.44 |
| Peru | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,286 | Shares | 70.05 |
| Philippines | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,200 | Shares | 65.78 |
| Poland | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,182 | Shares | 67.58 |
| Portugal | Other countries | Experts decide | 867 | Shares | 61.77 |
| Puerto Rico | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,109 | Shares | 64.92 |
| Romania | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,581 | Shares | 83.89 |
| Russia | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,045 | Shares | 42.70 |
| Serbia | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,213 | Shares | 82.44 |
| Singapore | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,789 | Shares | 46.69 |
| Slovakia | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,423 | Shares | 75.84 |
| Slovenia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,015 | Shares | 83.10 |
| South Korea | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,245 | Shares | 53.01 |
| Spain | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,066 | Shares | 63.75 |
| Sweden | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,155 | Shares | 37.42 |
| Switzerland | Other countries | Experts decide | 3,060 | Shares | 34.40 |
| Taiwan ROC | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,184 | Shares | 66.88 |
| Tajikistan | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,200 | Shares | 60.42 |
| Thailand | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,455 | Shares | 69.70 |
| Tunisia | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,162 | Shares | 42.77 |
| Turkey | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,144 | Shares | 53.87 |
| Ukraine | Other countries | Experts decide | 2,331 | Shares | 50.89 |
| United Kingdom | Other countries | Experts decide | 4,086 | Shares | 59.15 |
| United States | United States | Experts decide | 2,535 | Shares | 52.55 |
| Uruguay | Other countries | Experts decide | 914 | Shares | 64.96 |
| Uzbekistan | Other countries | Experts decide | 995 | Shares | 55.38 |
| Venezuela | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,190 | Shares | 75.38 |
| Vietnam | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,094 | Shares | 87.39 |
| Zimbabwe | Other countries | Experts decide | 1,182 | Shares | 64.30 |
| Albania | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,424 | Shares | 89.33 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,003 | Shares | 59.92 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 989 | Shares | 54.08 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,677 | Shares | 50.35 |
| Australia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,771 | Shares | 56.45 |
| Austria | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,630 | Shares | 64.10 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,753 | Shares | 44.31 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 34.33 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,486 | Shares | 33.81 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,037 | Shares | 48.90 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,688 | Shares | 44.06 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,545 | Shares | 57.88 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,456 | Shares | 41.38 |
| Canada | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 4,018 | Shares | 50.03 |
| Chile | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 961 | Shares | 30.27 |
| China | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,013 | Shares | 47.29 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,520 | Shares | 56.12 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,462 | Shares | 51.46 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 988 | Shares | 64.85 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,908 | Shares | 34.78 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,347 | Shares | 78.03 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,189 | Shares | 49.87 |
| Egypt | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,149 | Shares | 63.10 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,245 | Shares | 51.87 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,220 | Shares | 85.57 |
| Finland | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,153 | Shares | 60.44 |
| France | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,844 | Shares | 50.55 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,142 | Shares | 68.30 |
| Germany | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,651 | Shares | 75.31 |
| Greece | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,195 | Shares | 62.82 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 38.50 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,047 | Shares | 27.26 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,498 | Shares | 63.14 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,601 | Shares | 75.30 |
| India | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,309 | Shares | 50.67 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,164 | Shares | 44.03 |
| Iran | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,482 | Shares | 64.17 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 26.17 |
| Italy | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,267 | Shares | 63.93 |
| Japan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,220 | Shares | 47.70 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,172 | Shares | 48.81 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,267 | Shares | 37.17 |
| Kenya | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,246 | Shares | 45.18 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,178 | Shares | 68.72 |
| Latvia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,297 | Shares | 35.95 |
| Lebanon | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,189 | Shares | 23.97 |
| Libya | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,185 | Shares | 61.27 |
| Lithuania | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,374 | Shares | 42.13 |
| Macau SAR | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 807 | Shares | 25.40 |
| Malaysia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,313 | Shares | 34.73 |
| Maldives | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,031 | Shares | 30.84 |
| Mexico | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,729 | Shares | 48.02 |
| Mongolia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,638 | Shares | 20.40 |
| Montenegro | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 977 | Shares | 45.47 |
| Morocco | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 60.25 |
| Myanmar | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 61.58 |
| Netherlands | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 4,202 | Shares | 46.53 |
| New Zealand | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 986 | Shares | 64.10 |
| Nicaragua | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,137 | Shares | 60.60 |
| Nigeria | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,231 | Shares | 44.24 |
| North Macedonia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,064 | Shares | 62.90 |
| Northern Ireland | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 410 | Shares | 58.76 |
| Norway | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,117 | Shares | 78.24 |
| Pakistan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,958 | Shares | 52.04 |
| Peru | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,382 | Shares | 47.86 |
| Philippines | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 32.46 |
| Poland | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,323 | Shares | 64.44 |
| Portugal | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,150 | Shares | 41.28 |
| Puerto Rico | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,107 | Shares | 68.74 |
| Romania | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,674 | Shares | 51.44 |
| Russia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,415 | Shares | 24.90 |
| Serbia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,428 | Shares | 27.63 |
| Singapore | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,975 | Shares | 28.70 |
| Slovakia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,586 | Shares | 31.50 |
| Slovenia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,055 | Shares | 38.72 |
| South Korea | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,245 | Shares | 15.18 |
| Spain | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,195 | Shares | 54.53 |
| Sweden | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,178 | Shares | 74.18 |
| Switzerland | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 3,145 | Shares | 67.37 |
| Taiwan ROC | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,222 | Shares | 54.17 |
| Tajikistan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 40.17 |
| Thailand | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,481 | Shares | 33.97 |
| Tunisia | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,184 | Shares | 43.24 |
| Turkey | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,363 | Shares | 35.84 |
| Ukraine | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,777 | Shares | 47.23 |
| United Kingdom | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 4,151 | Shares | 60.08 |
| United States | United States | Top rating on importance of democracy | 2,552 | Shares | 49.87 |
| Uruguay | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 972 | Shares | 75.97 |
| Uzbekistan | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,228 | Shares | 57.74 |
| Venezuela | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,190 | Shares | 44.29 |
| Vietnam | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,200 | Shares | 53.17 |
| Zimbabwe | Other countries | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,204 | Shares | 75.17 |
| Albania | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,424 | Means | 9.64 |
| Andorra | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,003 | Means | 9.11 |
| Argentina | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 989 | Means | 8.82 |
| Armenia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,677 | Means | 8.27 |
| Australia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,771 | Means | 8.71 |
| Austria | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,630 | Means | 9.09 |
| Azerbaijan | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,753 | Means | 8.69 |
| Bangladesh | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,200 | Means | 8.11 |
| Belarus | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,486 | Means | 8.01 |
| Bolivia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,037 | Means | 8.51 |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,688 | Means | 8.35 |
| Brazil | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,545 | Means | 8.20 |
| Bulgaria | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,456 | Means | 7.99 |
| Canada | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 4,018 | Means | 8.65 |
| Chile | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 961 | Means | 7.60 |
| China | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 3,013 | Means | 8.71 |
| Colombia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,520 | Means | 8.31 |
| Croatia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,462 | Means | 8.34 |
| Cyprus | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 988 | Means | 8.96 |
| Czechia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,908 | Means | 8.01 |
| Denmark | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 3,347 | Means | 9.47 |
| Ecuador | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,189 | Means | 8.21 |
| Egypt | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,149 | Means | 9.13 |
| Estonia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,245 | Means | 8.65 |
| Ethiopia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,220 | Means | 9.49 |
| Finland | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,153 | Means | 9.09 |
| France | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,844 | Means | 8.61 |
| Georgia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,142 | Means | 8.91 |
| Germany | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 3,651 | Means | 9.41 |
| Greece | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,195 | Means | 9.32 |
| Guatemala | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,200 | Means | 7.51 |
| Hong Kong SAR | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,047 | Means | 7.82 |
| Hungary | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,498 | Means | 8.86 |
| Iceland | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,601 | Means | 9.48 |
| India | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,309 | Means | 8.42 |
| Indonesia | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 3,164 | Means | 8.23 |
| Iran | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,482 | Means | 8.81 |
| Iraq | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,200 | Means | 7.34 |
| Italy | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 2,267 | Means | 9.14 |
| Japan | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,220 | Means | 8.70 |
| Jordan | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,172 | Means | 8.18 |
| Kazakhstan | Other countries | Importance of living in a democracy (mean) | 1,267 | Means | 7.92 |

The first 500 of 642 rows; every row is in https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/us_vs_world.json.

Views: Shares (percent) (panel_view = Shares); Importance and perceived democracy (mean) (panel_view = Means).

Note: Countries with an effective sample at or above the floor in Wave 7; the set differs from the fixed set. Each country's estimate omits design effects.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Wave 7 (2017 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/us_vs_world.json

### Table 5. Young adults went from less approving of a strong leader than older adults to level with them between Wave 3 and Wave 7

Share among adults aged 18 to 34 minus share among adults aged 55 or older, percentage points, equal-weight mean across countries, by wave

| conf_high | conf_low | estimate | item | n | n_countries | scope | x |
| ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: |
| −1.67 | −4.78 | −3.22 | Army rule | 40,439 | 30 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 0.790 | −2.42 | −0.813 | Army rule | 56,429 | 30 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 4.92 | −0.484 | 2.22 | Army rule | 51,485 | 30 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 1.67 | −1.49 | 0.089 | Democratic system | 40,085 | 30 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 0.804 | −2.56 | −0.876 | Democratic system | 56,147 | 30 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 0.039 | −2.59 | −1.27 | Democratic system | 51,979 | 30 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 3.70 | −1.39 | 1.15 | Experts decide | 38,991 | 30 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| 4.48 | 0.025 | 2.25 | Experts decide | 54,321 | 30 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 8.98 | 1.75 | 5.37 | Experts decide | 50,829 | 30 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| −3.56 | −9.68 | −6.62 | Strong leader | 39,946 | 30 | Fixed set | 1996 |
| −0.153 | −4.65 | −2.40 | Strong leader | 55,473 | 30 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| 2.60 | −1.88 | 0.364 | Strong leader | 51,421 | 30 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| −3.47 | −10.39 | −6.93 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 51,271 | 37 | Fixed set | 2007 |
| −4.92 | −14.04 | −9.48 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 72,171 | 37 | Fixed set | 2018 |
| 4.66 | −2.52 | 1.07 | Army rule | 938 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 8.31 | −0.580 | 3.86 | Army rule | 678 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 13.51 | 0.517 | 7.01 | Army rule | 724 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 15.98 | 6.11 | 11.05 | Army rule | 1,413 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 21.90 | 12.25 | 17.08 | Army rule | 1,658 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| −0.872 | −9.77 | −5.32 | Democratic system | 906 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| −4.45 | −13.71 | −9.08 | Democratic system | 664 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| −3.87 | −16.40 | −10.13 | Democratic system | 722 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| −4.43 | −14.51 | −9.47 | Democratic system | 1,408 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| −7.21 | −16.05 | −11.63 | Democratic system | 1,642 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| 16.03 | 2.10 | 9.06 | Experts decide | 912 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 23.29 | 8.12 | 15.71 | Experts decide | 676 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 16.18 | −1.84 | 7.17 | Experts decide | 724 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 21.43 | 8.98 | 15.21 | Experts decide | 1,414 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 28.52 | 16.54 | 22.53 | Experts decide | 1,665 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| 16.87 | 4.13 | 10.50 | Strong leader | 920 | 1 | United States | 1995 |
| 16.99 | 2.67 | 9.83 | Strong leader | 679 | 1 | United States | 1999 |
| 12.29 | −4.74 | 3.77 | Strong leader | 728 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| 26.03 | 13.91 | 19.97 | Strong leader | 1,417 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| 20.13 | 8.44 | 14.29 | Strong leader | 1,671 | 1 | United States | 2017 |
| −21.30 | −38.58 | −29.94 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 727 | 1 | United States | 2006 |
| −24.09 | −35.90 | −30.00 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,423 | 1 | United States | 2011 |
| −29.79 | −41.26 | −35.52 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 1,677 | 1 | United States | 2017 |

Views: Fixed set of countries (scope = Fixed set); United States (scope = United States).

Note: Fixed set: the countries of the fixed set with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor (n at least 100 and an effective sample of at least 100); the importance line uses its own set of countries observed in Waves 5 and 7. Age groups are 18 to 34 and 55 or older; the 35 to 54 group is not plotted. Intervals for the fixed set are clustered by country (t critical value on one fewer degree of freedom than the number of countries); intervals for one country use the Kish effective sample size. The WVS file has no strata or sampling units, so no interval includes design effects.

Note: A cross-section confounds age with cohort, and a change in the gap between waves identifies a cohort difference only if period changes are the same at every age.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/age_gaps.json

### Table 6. Every birth cohort followed across waves became more approving of a strong leader, and the cohorts ended close together

Share of adults calling a strong leader a good way of governing the country, by birth cohort and wave, equal-weight mean across countries

| cohort | conf_high | conf_low | estimate | item | n | n_countries | x |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 15.30 | 8.38 | 11.84 | Army rule | 16,646 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 18.03 | 9.80 | 13.92 | Army rule | 19,092 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 24.26 | 13.19 | 18.73 | Army rule | 16,021 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 18.80 | 10.35 | 14.58 | Army rule | 9,338 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 25.66 | 14.54 | 20.10 | Army rule | 7,820 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1987 or later | 28.13 | 16.71 | 22.42 | Army rule | 11,374 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born before 1960 | 17.29 | 9.34 | 13.32 | Army rule | 22,560 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born before 1960 | 19.45 | 10.76 | 15.10 | Army rule | 24,919 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born before 1960 | 26.46 | 13.96 | 20.21 | Army rule | 16,270 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 90.60 | 85.27 | 87.93 | Democratic system | 16,536 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 90.98 | 86.18 | 88.58 | Democratic system | 19,041 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 92.79 | 87.52 | 90.16 | Democratic system | 16,175 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 90.17 | 84.85 | 87.51 | Democratic system | 9,321 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 92.83 | 88.20 | 90.52 | Democratic system | 7,929 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1987 or later | 91.58 | 86.07 | 88.83 | Democratic system | 11,509 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born before 1960 | 91.14 | 85.00 | 88.07 | Democratic system | 22,309 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born before 1960 | 90.78 | 86.31 | 88.55 | Democratic system | 24,714 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born before 1960 | 93.14 | 87.95 | 90.54 | Democratic system | 16,366 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 67.43 | 56.98 | 62.20 | Experts decide | 16,226 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 67.21 | 56.31 | 61.76 | Experts decide | 18,455 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 71.09 | 57.84 | 64.47 | Experts decide | 15,883 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 68.80 | 58.59 | 63.70 | Experts decide | 9,025 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 71.73 | 60.97 | 66.35 | Experts decide | 7,770 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1987 or later | 72.36 | 62.24 | 67.30 | Experts decide | 11,296 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born before 1960 | 66.86 | 54.82 | 60.84 | Experts decide | 21,556 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born before 1960 | 66.94 | 55.22 | 61.08 | Experts decide | 23,865 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born before 1960 | 68.51 | 54.08 | 61.30 | Experts decide | 15,880 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 43.02 | 30.95 | 36.98 | Strong leader | 16,481 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 47.45 | 33.21 | 40.33 | Strong leader | 18,834 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 54.57 | 37.20 | 45.89 | Strong leader | 15,998 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 48.72 | 34.75 | 41.74 | Strong leader | 9,147 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 55.95 | 39.60 | 47.77 | Strong leader | 7,853 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1987 or later | 55.54 | 40.43 | 47.98 | Strong leader | 11,332 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born before 1960 | 46.70 | 34.25 | 40.48 | Strong leader | 22,234 | 30 | 1996 |
| Born before 1960 | 50.66 | 36.16 | 43.41 | Strong leader | 24,471 | 30 | 2007 |
| Born before 1960 | 56.50 | 39.41 | 47.95 | Strong leader | 16,238 | 30 | 2018 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 53.84 | 45.16 | 49.50 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 18,739 | 37 | 2007 |
| Born 1960 to 1977 | 59.69 | 50.10 | 54.90 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 22,845 | 37 | 2018 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 48.79 | 39.58 | 44.18 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 9,803 | 37 | 2007 |
| Born 1978 to 1986 | 56.29 | 46.82 | 51.55 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 11,913 | 37 | 2018 |
| Born 1987 or later | 50.84 | 41.92 | 46.38 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 16,196 | 37 | 2018 |
| Born before 1960 | 57.38 | 47.29 | 52.34 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 20,364 | 37 | 2007 |
| Born before 1960 | 62.35 | 51.02 | 56.69 | Top rating on importance of democracy | 21,217 | 37 | 2018 |

Views: Strong leader (item = Strong leader); Army rule (item = Army rule); Democratic system (item = Democratic system); Top rating on importance of democracy (item = Top rating on importance of democracy).

Note: Countries: the countries of the fixed set with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor (n at least 100 and an effective sample of at least 100). Intervals for the fixed set are clustered by country (t critical value on one fewer degree of freedom than the number of countries); intervals for one country use the Kish effective sample size. The WVS file has no strata or sampling units, so no interval includes design effects.

Note: The first three cohorts are shown in a wave only if all their members were 18 or older at the earliest fieldwork year of the wave; the cohort born 1987 or later is open-ended and holds respondents born from 1987 who were 18 or older at interview in Wave 7. Ages at interview: cohort born 1978 to 1986 in Wave 5, 18 to 31; cohort born 1987 or later in Wave 7, 18 to 36. Birth year is the survey year minus age, so it can be off by one.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/cohort_lines.json

### Table 7. In 38 of 73 countries the interval for the right-minus-left difference in approval of a strong leader lies above zero

Share calling a strong leader a good way of governing among adults placing themselves at the right end of the left-right scale minus the share at the left end, percentage points, by country, Wave 7 (2017 to 2023)

| conf_high | conf_low | country | estimate | group | item | n |
| ---: | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | --- | ---: |
| 35.99 | 17.48 | Malaysia | 26.73 | Other countries | Army rule | 530 |
| 33.49 | 16.98 | Uruguay | 25.23 | Other countries | Army rule | 601 |
| 32.31 | 15.66 | Brazil | 23.99 | Other countries | Army rule | 523 |
| 25.66 | 10.79 | Bosnia Herzegovina | 18.23 | Other countries | Army rule | 762 |
| 23.87 | 11.71 | Spain | 17.79 | Other countries | Army rule | 611 |
| 27.25 | 6.85 | Tajikistan | 17.05 | Other countries | Army rule | 909 |
| 25.21 | 8.11 | Serbia | 16.66 | Other countries | Army rule | 971 |
| 19.02 | 12.20 | Canada | 15.61 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,234 |
| 22.40 | 7.80 | Croatia | 15.10 | Other countries | Army rule | 662 |
| 21.02 | 9.17 | Colombia | 15.10 | Other countries | Army rule | 878 |
| 21.15 | 5.92 | Argentina | 13.54 | Other countries | Army rule | 446 |
| 17.77 | 8.63 | United States | 13.20 | United States | Army rule | 1,644 |
| 18.27 | 7.40 | South Korea | 12.83 | Other countries | Army rule | 749 |
| 13.82 | 6.10 | Italy | 9.96 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,052 |
| 13.65 | 5.99 | Finland | 9.82 | Other countries | Army rule | 734 |
| 16.57 | 1.48 | Ecuador | 9.03 | Other countries | Army rule | 546 |
| 16.74 | −0.111 | Belarus | 8.32 | Other countries | Army rule | 334 |
| 12.68 | 3.84 | Slovakia | 8.26 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,216 |
| 15.55 | 0.770 | Poland | 8.16 | Other countries | Army rule | 555 |
| 11.94 | 2.58 | Greece | 7.26 | Other countries | Army rule | 571 |
| 11.93 | 1.62 | Slovenia | 6.78 | Other countries | Army rule | 405 |
| 13.18 | 0.187 | Zimbabwe | 6.69 | Other countries | Army rule | 747 |
| 13.14 | −0.168 | Armenia | 6.49 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,261 |
| 11.02 | 0.622 | France | 5.82 | Other countries | Army rule | 847 |
| 12.93 | −1.61 | Mongolia | 5.66 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,010 |
| 11.61 | −1.49 | Mexico | 5.06 | Other countries | Army rule | 943 |
| 9.13 | −0.390 | Andorra | 4.37 | Other countries | Army rule | 486 |
| 7.25 | 1.32 | Norway | 4.29 | Other countries | Army rule | 724 |
| 9.58 | −1.35 | Maldives | 4.12 | Other countries | Army rule | 691 |
| 13.54 | −5.42 | Ethiopia | 4.06 | Other countries | Army rule | 447 |
| 7.95 | −0.009 | Austria | 3.97 | Other countries | Army rule | 753 |
| 8.19 | −0.261 | Singapore | 3.97 | Other countries | Army rule | 889 |
| 12.21 | −4.40 | Georgia | 3.90 | Other countries | Army rule | 882 |
| 7.21 | 0.575 | United Kingdom | 3.89 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,076 |
| 7.96 | −0.449 | Australia | 3.75 | Other countries | Army rule | 896 |
| 9.80 | −3.13 | Russia | 3.34 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,053 |
| 4.57 | 1.92 | Netherlands | 3.24 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,598 |
| 8.44 | −2.82 | Latvia | 2.81 | Other countries | Army rule | 492 |
| 11.63 | −6.15 | Philippines | 2.74 | Other countries | Army rule | 784 |
| 9.56 | −4.97 | Nicaragua | 2.30 | Other countries | Army rule | 527 |
| 12.26 | −7.95 | North Macedonia | 2.15 | Other countries | Army rule | 462 |
| 11.32 | −7.26 | India | 2.03 | Other countries | Army rule | 604 |
| 7.35 | −3.49 | Bolivia | 1.93 | Other countries | Army rule | 897 |
| 3.62 | 0.220 | Switzerland | 1.92 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,816 |
| 7.24 | −3.50 | Puerto Rico | 1.87 | Other countries | Army rule | 725 |
| 10.58 | −6.99 | Portugal | 1.80 | Other countries | Army rule | 401 |
| 2.88 | −0.216 | Germany | 1.33 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,744 |
| 3.60 | −1.27 | Denmark | 1.16 | Other countries | Army rule | 2,219 |
| 4.28 | −2.15 | Sweden | 1.06 | Other countries | Army rule | 776 |
| 6.47 | −4.47 | Albania | 1.00 | Other countries | Army rule | 816 |
| 2.07 | −0.945 | Iceland | 0.561 | Other countries | Army rule | 994 |
| 7.05 | −6.89 | Lithuania | 0.079 | Other countries | Army rule | 493 |
| 6.24 | −6.64 | Indonesia | −0.199 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,730 |
| 6.89 | −7.50 | Kenya | −0.306 | Other countries | Army rule | 728 |
| 1.57 | −2.33 | New Zealand | −0.383 | Other countries | Army rule | 529 |
| 7.38 | −8.25 | Guatemala | −0.435 | Other countries | Army rule | 625 |
| 1.95 | −3.67 | Japan | −0.860 | Other countries | Army rule | 536 |
| 5.22 | −7.46 | Hong Kong SAR | −1.12 | Other countries | Army rule | 666 |
| 8.98 | −11.73 | Thailand | −1.37 | Other countries | Army rule | 459 |
| 2.76 | −6.44 | Hungary | −1.84 | Other countries | Army rule | 679 |
| 4.38 | −9.50 | Romania | −2.56 | Other countries | Army rule | 976 |
| 1.44 | −7.46 | Estonia | −3.01 | Other countries | Army rule | 417 |
| 4.47 | −10.87 | Tunisia | −3.20 | Other countries | Army rule | 609 |
| 3.24 | −10.04 | Venezuela | −3.40 | Other countries | Army rule | 757 |
| 0.475 | −7.65 | Czechia | −3.59 | Other countries | Army rule | 1,471 |
| 3.57 | −13.04 | Libya | −4.74 | Other countries | Army rule | 545 |
| 0.034 | −11.06 | Azerbaijan | −5.51 | Other countries | Army rule | 770 |
| 0.289 | −12.92 | Morocco | −6.31 | Other countries | Army rule | 695 |
| −1.29 | −14.72 | Bulgaria | −8.00 | Other countries | Army rule | 669 |
| −3.59 | −22.87 | Peru | −13.23 | Other countries | Army rule | 567 |
| −6.37 | −20.10 | Nigeria | −13.23 | Other countries | Army rule | 853 |
| 16.77 | 2.39 | Hong Kong SAR | 9.58 | Other countries | Democratic system | 663 |
| 18.09 | 0.867 | Philippines | 9.48 | Other countries | Democratic system | 782 |
| 12.30 | 2.77 | Indonesia | 7.54 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,721 |
| 11.27 | 2.96 | Turkey | 7.11 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,417 |
| 12.60 | 0.573 | Colombia | 6.58 | Other countries | Democratic system | 878 |
| 11.94 | −0.628 | Latvia | 5.65 | Other countries | Democratic system | 486 |
| 11.78 | −0.590 | Tajikistan | 5.59 | Other countries | Democratic system | 909 |
| 10.72 | 0.321 | Morocco | 5.52 | Other countries | Democratic system | 695 |
| 11.43 | −3.01 | India | 4.21 | Other countries | Democratic system | 630 |
| 8.73 | −0.963 | Ethiopia | 3.88 | Other countries | Democratic system | 451 |
| 7.83 | −0.871 | Croatia | 3.48 | Other countries | Democratic system | 670 |
| 10.56 | −3.63 | Russia | 3.46 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,049 |
| 8.37 | −1.47 | Bulgaria | 3.45 | Other countries | Democratic system | 693 |
| 8.23 | −1.72 | Libya | 3.25 | Other countries | Democratic system | 548 |
| 6.84 | −0.627 | Hungary | 3.11 | Other countries | Democratic system | 684 |
| 4.76 | 0.583 | United Kingdom | 2.67 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,085 |
| 8.28 | −3.27 | Poland | 2.51 | Other countries | Democratic system | 566 |
| 6.07 | −1.73 | Romania | 2.17 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,035 |
| 8.58 | −4.41 | South Korea | 2.08 | Other countries | Democratic system | 749 |
| 6.85 | −3.22 | Bosnia Herzegovina | 1.81 | Other countries | Democratic system | 774 |
| 6.08 | −2.89 | Portugal | 1.60 | Other countries | Democratic system | 434 |
| 6.48 | −3.56 | Georgia | 1.46 | Other countries | Democratic system | 855 |
| 6.27 | −3.67 | Estonia | 1.30 | Other countries | Democratic system | 421 |
| 6.87 | −4.41 | Guatemala | 1.23 | Other countries | Democratic system | 625 |
| 2.27 | −0.608 | Iceland | 0.833 | Other countries | Democratic system | 998 |
| 4.26 | −2.61 | Czechia | 0.823 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,475 |
| 2.42 | −1.27 | Denmark | 0.578 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,222 |
| 2.25 | −1.33 | Sweden | 0.459 | Other countries | Democratic system | 777 |
| 3.27 | −2.64 | Austria | 0.314 | Other countries | Democratic system | 769 |
| 2.30 | −1.88 | Albania | 0.212 | Other countries | Democratic system | 832 |
| 1.92 | −1.94 | Norway | −0.008 | Other countries | Democratic system | 726 |
| 2.64 | −3.40 | Azerbaijan | −0.379 | Other countries | Democratic system | 816 |
| 3.45 | −4.54 | Zimbabwe | −0.543 | Other countries | Democratic system | 757 |
| 3.67 | −4.94 | Australia | −0.637 | Other countries | Democratic system | 904 |
| 3.80 | −5.13 | North Macedonia | −0.660 | Other countries | Democratic system | 474 |
| 3.58 | −5.16 | Nigeria | −0.788 | Other countries | Democratic system | 857 |
| 2.48 | −4.22 | Japan | −0.871 | Other countries | Democratic system | 537 |
| 4.28 | −6.15 | Cyprus | −0.937 | Other countries | Democratic system | 440 |
| 0.779 | −2.68 | Switzerland | −0.952 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,814 |
| 4.48 | −6.86 | Serbia | −1.19 | Other countries | Democratic system | 988 |
| 0.119 | −2.51 | Germany | −1.20 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,733 |
| 5.15 | −7.97 | Ecuador | −1.41 | Other countries | Democratic system | 550 |
| 0.686 | −4.22 | Italy | −1.77 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,069 |
| 2.50 | −6.68 | Uruguay | −2.09 | Other countries | Democratic system | 608 |
| 4.43 | −8.62 | Argentina | −2.10 | Other countries | Democratic system | 461 |
| 2.46 | −7.13 | Venezuela | −2.33 | Other countries | Democratic system | 757 |
| 3.03 | −8.26 | Peru | −2.62 | Other countries | Democratic system | 569 |
| 0.267 | −5.53 | Greece | −2.63 | Other countries | Democratic system | 576 |
| 1.00 | −6.28 | Andorra | −2.64 | Other countries | Democratic system | 487 |
| −1.38 | −4.25 | Netherlands | −2.81 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,579 |
| 2.71 | −8.84 | Brazil | −3.06 | Other countries | Democratic system | 535 |
| 1.21 | −7.34 | Belarus | −3.07 | Other countries | Democratic system | 347 |
| 2.23 | −8.49 | Lithuania | −3.13 | Other countries | Democratic system | 482 |
| 0.885 | −7.21 | New Zealand | −3.16 | Other countries | Democratic system | 533 |
| 2.67 | −9.11 | Malaysia | −3.22 | Other countries | Democratic system | 530 |
| 1.07 | −7.62 | Bolivia | −3.27 | Other countries | Democratic system | 905 |
| 0.537 | −7.26 | France | −3.36 | Other countries | Democratic system | 848 |
| −0.081 | −7.01 | Singapore | −3.55 | Other countries | Democratic system | 889 |
| −0.539 | −7.03 | Finland | −3.78 | Other countries | Democratic system | 731 |
| 3.46 | −11.41 | Tunisia | −3.98 | Other countries | Democratic system | 611 |
| 1.50 | −10.64 | Kenya | −4.57 | Other countries | Democratic system | 740 |
| 1.84 | −12.19 | Maldives | −5.18 | Other countries | Democratic system | 696 |
| −0.660 | −9.81 | Armenia | −5.23 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,290 |
| 2.04 | −13.59 | Thailand | −5.78 | Other countries | Democratic system | 459 |
| −0.413 | −11.65 | Mexico | −6.03 | Other countries | Democratic system | 946 |
| −2.26 | −9.85 | Slovakia | −6.06 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,230 |
| 0.094 | −12.25 | Nicaragua | −6.08 | Other countries | Democratic system | 527 |
| −0.273 | −12.93 | Mongolia | −6.60 | Other countries | Democratic system | 1,010 |
| −2.26 | −11.15 | Spain | −6.71 | Other countries | Democratic system | 634 |
| −3.24 | −11.06 | United States | −7.15 | United States | Democratic system | 1,633 |
| −2.98 | −12.90 | Puerto Rico | −7.94 | Other countries | Democratic system | 717 |
| −5.32 | −10.75 | Canada | −8.04 | Other countries | Democratic system | 2,234 |
| −1.44 | −15.30 | Slovenia | −8.37 | Other countries | Democratic system | 400 |
| 32.42 | 21.42 | Turkey | 26.92 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,346 |
| 37.03 | 16.76 | Uruguay | 26.89 | Other countries | Strong leader | 580 |
| 33.25 | 17.79 | Spain | 25.52 | Other countries | Strong leader | 604 |
| 26.64 | 15.28 | Italy | 20.96 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,054 |
| 26.74 | 14.74 | Poland | 20.74 | Other countries | Strong leader | 566 |
| 29.91 | 11.21 | Malaysia | 20.56 | Other countries | Strong leader | 530 |
| 24.16 | 15.85 | Canada | 20.01 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,234 |
| 22.27 | 14.77 | Netherlands | 18.52 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,517 |
| 25.32 | 9.54 | Andorra | 17.43 | Other countries | Strong leader | 489 |
| 24.34 | 10.09 | Maldives | 17.21 | Other countries | Strong leader | 692 |
| 24.89 | 9.51 | Bosnia Herzegovina | 17.20 | Other countries | Strong leader | 767 |
| 25.90 | 7.90 | Croatia | 16.90 | Other countries | Strong leader | 665 |
| 22.04 | 10.41 | United States | 16.23 | United States | Strong leader | 1,649 |
| 26.87 | 4.94 | Argentina | 15.91 | Other countries | Strong leader | 426 |
| 23.22 | 6.71 | Serbia | 14.97 | Other countries | Strong leader | 988 |
| 20.74 | 8.27 | Austria | 14.51 | Other countries | Strong leader | 749 |
| 25.36 | 3.59 | Cyprus | 14.48 | Other countries | Strong leader | 412 |
| 21.12 | 7.70 | Hungary | 14.41 | Other countries | Strong leader | 681 |
| 20.94 | 7.24 | Colombia | 14.09 | Other countries | Strong leader | 878 |
| 20.79 | 7.27 | France | 14.03 | Other countries | Strong leader | 841 |
| 23.88 | 4.14 | Slovenia | 14.01 | Other countries | Strong leader | 401 |
| 23.07 | 3.93 | Ethiopia | 13.50 | Other countries | Strong leader | 449 |
| 20.68 | 6.29 | Puerto Rico | 13.48 | Other countries | Strong leader | 723 |
| 18.32 | 7.46 | Finland | 12.89 | Other countries | Strong leader | 740 |
| 20.76 | 4.91 | Australia | 12.83 | Other countries | Strong leader | 894 |
| 17.03 | 7.66 | Germany | 12.34 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,697 |
| 16.52 | 7.35 | United Kingdom | 11.94 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,064 |
| 15.73 | 4.61 | Slovakia | 10.17 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,209 |
| 17.79 | 2.35 | Venezuela | 10.07 | Other countries | Strong leader | 757 |
| 16.90 | 3.17 | Mongolia | 10.03 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,010 |
| 17.23 | 1.62 | Azerbaijan | 9.43 | Other countries | Strong leader | 796 |
| 16.88 | 1.25 | North Macedonia | 9.06 | Other countries | Strong leader | 459 |
| 13.54 | 4.21 | Denmark | 8.88 | Other countries | Strong leader | 2,214 |
| 14.96 | 1.50 | Indonesia | 8.23 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,724 |
| 14.61 | 0.263 | Kenya | 7.44 | Other countries | Strong leader | 740 |
| 10.76 | 3.46 | Switzerland | 7.11 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,799 |
| 14.86 | −1.03 | Japan | 6.91 | Other countries | Strong leader | 524 |
| 12.54 | 0.992 | New Zealand | 6.76 | Other countries | Strong leader | 518 |
| 11.81 | 1.15 | Norway | 6.48 | Other countries | Strong leader | 725 |
| 14.71 | −2.47 | India | 6.12 | Other countries | Strong leader | 622 |
| 12.60 | −1.15 | Nigeria | 5.72 | Other countries | Strong leader | 852 |
| 11.39 | −1.49 | Singapore | 4.95 | Other countries | Strong leader | 884 |
| 13.02 | −3.18 | Nicaragua | 4.92 | Other countries | Strong leader | 527 |
| 12.73 | −3.66 | Brazil | 4.54 | Other countries | Strong leader | 540 |
| 15.92 | −7.54 | Portugal | 4.19 | Other countries | Strong leader | 413 |
| 9.49 | −1.97 | Sweden | 3.76 | Other countries | Strong leader | 772 |
| 12.76 | −5.88 | Peru | 3.44 | Other countries | Strong leader | 558 |
| 7.61 | −1.24 | Iceland | 3.19 | Other countries | Strong leader | 992 |
| 10.39 | −5.90 | Philippines | 2.24 | Other countries | Strong leader | 784 |
| 7.03 | −2.62 | Greece | 2.20 | Other countries | Strong leader | 570 |
| 8.86 | −6.13 | Georgia | 1.37 | Other countries | Strong leader | 890 |
| 9.95 | −9.11 | Tajikistan | 0.423 | Other countries | Strong leader | 909 |
| 6.33 | −6.03 | Bolivia | 0.151 | Other countries | Strong leader | 879 |
| 5.97 | −6.29 | Thailand | −0.162 | Other countries | Strong leader | 459 |
| 8.14 | −8.61 | Libya | −0.232 | Other countries | Strong leader | 549 |
| 7.55 | −8.69 | Russia | −0.572 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,073 |
| 6.03 | −8.45 | Guatemala | −1.21 | Other countries | Strong leader | 625 |
| 5.67 | −8.38 | Ecuador | −1.35 | Other countries | Strong leader | 551 |
| 5.12 | −8.37 | Armenia | −1.63 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,251 |
| 4.23 | −8.08 | Albania | −1.93 | Other countries | Strong leader | 826 |
| 4.68 | −9.42 | Zimbabwe | −2.37 | Other countries | Strong leader | 751 |
| 4.10 | −9.45 | South Korea | −2.67 | Other countries | Strong leader | 749 |
| 6.88 | −13.55 | Latvia | −3.34 | Other countries | Strong leader | 483 |
| 5.20 | −11.93 | Hong Kong SAR | −3.36 | Other countries | Strong leader | 667 |
| 1.66 | −9.48 | Romania | −3.91 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,016 |
| 1.90 | −10.00 | Mexico | −4.05 | Other countries | Strong leader | 942 |
| 6.58 | −14.82 | Belarus | −4.12 | Other countries | Strong leader | 337 |
| 2.20 | −12.34 | Tunisia | −5.07 | Other countries | Strong leader | 610 |
| 3.79 | −16.18 | Lithuania | −6.19 | Other countries | Strong leader | 488 |
| 0.458 | −14.24 | Morocco | −6.89 | Other countries | Strong leader | 695 |
| −4.26 | −14.37 | Czechia | −9.32 | Other countries | Strong leader | 1,446 |
| −3.48 | −20.15 | Estonia | −11.81 | Other countries | Strong leader | 420 |
| −8.77 | −26.75 | Bulgaria | −17.76 | Other countries | Strong leader | 656 |

Views: Strong leader (item = Strong leader); Army rule (item = Army rule); Democratic system (item = Democratic system).

Note: Left is placements 1 to 4 and right is placements 7 to 10 on the ten-point scale; the centre is left out. A country needs at least 100 respondents and 100 effective respondents in each group. Intervals are for each country alone and omit design effects.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Wave 7 (2017 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/left_right_gap.json

### Table 8. Where interviews stayed face to face, European ratings of whether the media are free to criticize the government fell by 0.38 points between Round 6 and Round 10

Change in the mean rating of how far each feature of democracy applies in the country, and in satisfaction with democracy, ESS Round 6 (2012 to 2013) to Round 10 (2020 to 2022), points on the eleven-point scale, by country, countries that kept face-to-face interviews

| change | conf_high | conf_low | country | item | mode | n |
| ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | --- | --- | ---: |
| −0.269 | −0.082 | −0.456 | Belgium | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,170 |
| −0.340 | −0.134 | −0.546 | Bulgaria | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,733 |
| 0.135 | 0.270 | 0.001 | Switzerland | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,852 |
| −1.69 | −1.39 | −1.99 | Cyprus | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 1,918 |
| −0.178 | 0.006 | −0.362 | Czechia | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,303 |
| −0.573 | −0.474 | −0.673 | Germany | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 11,321 |
| 0.810 | 0.993 | 0.627 | Estonia | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,794 |
| 0.530 | 0.708 | 0.352 | Spain | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,063 |
| 0.201 | 0.289 | 0.114 | Finland | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,742 |
| −0.188 | −0.030 | −0.346 | France | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,827 |
| −0.025 | 0.157 | −0.207 | United Kingdom | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,331 |
| −0.682 | −0.482 | −0.882 | Hungary | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,578 |
| −0.272 | −0.096 | −0.449 | Ireland | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,239 |
| −1.08 | −0.840 | −1.33 | Israel | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,596 |
| 0.333 | 0.548 | 0.117 | Iceland | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 1,615 |
| −0.135 | 0.090 | −0.360 | Italy | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,463 |
| 1.63 | 1.86 | 1.40 | Lithuania | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,580 |
| −0.154 | −0.009 | −0.299 | Netherlands | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,275 |
| 0.176 | 0.314 | 0.039 | Norway | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,996 |
| −1.77 | −1.58 | −1.96 | Poland | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,828 |
| 1.09 | 1.26 | 0.923 | Portugal | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,780 |
| −0.427 | −0.309 | −0.546 | Sweden | Elections free and fair | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,073 |
| 0.283 | 0.503 | 0.064 | Slovenia | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,400 |
| −0.097 | 0.146 | −0.340 | Slovakia | Elections free and fair | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,182 |
| −0.216 | −0.046 | −0.387 | Belgium | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,161 |
| −2.07 | −1.86 | −2.28 | Bulgaria | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,778 |
| −0.198 | −0.044 | −0.352 | Switzerland | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,872 |
| −2.77 | −2.44 | −3.11 | Cyprus | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 1,927 |
| 0.008 | 0.179 | −0.163 | Czechia | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,313 |
| −0.633 | −0.534 | −0.732 | Germany | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 11,331 |
| 0.131 | 0.297 | −0.035 | Estonia | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,825 |
| −0.567 | −0.381 | −0.753 | Spain | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,060 |
| 0.316 | 0.433 | 0.200 | Finland | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,706 |
| −0.626 | −0.451 | −0.802 | France | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,880 |
| −0.232 | −0.027 | −0.438 | United Kingdom | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,309 |
| −1.13 | −0.929 | −1.34 | Hungary | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,673 |
| −0.786 | −0.609 | −0.964 | Ireland | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,284 |
| −1.19 | −0.940 | −1.45 | Israel | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,574 |
| 0.150 | 0.371 | −0.071 | Iceland | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 1,609 |
| −0.648 | −0.414 | −0.881 | Italy | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,472 |
| 0.405 | 0.617 | 0.192 | Lithuania | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,619 |
| −0.121 | 0.022 | −0.263 | Netherlands | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,275 |
| −0.064 | 0.104 | −0.233 | Norway | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,003 |
| −2.36 | −2.17 | −2.54 | Poland | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,860 |
| 0.572 | 0.742 | 0.403 | Portugal | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,793 |
| −0.747 | −0.609 | −0.885 | Sweden | Media free to criticize the government | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,080 |
| −0.948 | −0.732 | −1.16 | Slovenia | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,426 |
| −1.34 | −1.09 | −1.58 | Slovakia | Media free to criticize the government | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,173 |
| 0.099 | 0.256 | −0.057 | Belgium | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,158 |
| −0.401 | −0.183 | −0.620 | Bulgaria | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,779 |
| 0.043 | 0.183 | −0.098 | Switzerland | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,843 |
| −2.16 | −1.83 | −2.48 | Cyprus | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 1,915 |
| 0.841 | 1.01 | 0.668 | Czechia | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,216 |
| −0.320 | −0.219 | −0.422 | Germany | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 11,140 |
| 0.657 | 0.826 | 0.489 | Estonia | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,695 |
| 0.907 | 1.08 | 0.732 | Spain | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,990 |
| 0.338 | 0.455 | 0.221 | Finland | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,682 |
| −0.163 | −0.010 | −0.315 | France | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,807 |
| −0.258 | −0.052 | −0.463 | United Kingdom | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,206 |
| −0.403 | −0.222 | −0.584 | Hungary | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,700 |
| −0.176 | −0.003 | −0.350 | Ireland | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,177 |
| −0.749 | −0.479 | −1.02 | Israel | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,517 |
| 0.399 | 0.627 | 0.171 | Iceland | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 1,597 |
| 0.359 | 0.567 | 0.150 | Italy | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,477 |
| 0.763 | 0.959 | 0.566 | Lithuania | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,443 |
| −0.097 | 0.041 | −0.234 | Netherlands | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,235 |
| 0.273 | 0.444 | 0.102 | Norway | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,967 |
| −1.15 | −0.971 | −1.32 | Poland | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,627 |
| 1.26 | 1.44 | 1.07 | Portugal | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,754 |
| −0.689 | −0.545 | −0.833 | Sweden | Minority rights protected | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,997 |
| −0.613 | −0.412 | −0.814 | Slovenia | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,318 |
| −0.387 | −0.158 | −0.615 | Slovakia | Minority rights protected | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,136 |
| −0.183 | 0.044 | −0.409 | Belgium | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,125 |
| −1.05 | −0.848 | −1.26 | Bulgaria | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,733 |
| −0.111 | 0.036 | −0.258 | Switzerland | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,851 |
| −1.33 | −0.963 | −1.69 | Cyprus | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 1,899 |
| 0.848 | 1.06 | 0.635 | Czechia | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,148 |
| 0.381 | 0.532 | 0.230 | Germany | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 11,106 |
| 0.035 | 0.231 | −0.160 | Estonia | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,729 |
| 0.234 | 0.448 | 0.020 | Spain | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,964 |
| −0.195 | −0.014 | −0.377 | Finland | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,672 |
| −0.654 | −0.461 | −0.847 | France | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,814 |
| 0.426 | 0.676 | 0.176 | United Kingdom | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,212 |
| −0.027 | 0.174 | −0.227 | Hungary | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,666 |
| −0.487 | −0.293 | −0.681 | Ireland | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,227 |
| −0.008 | 0.274 | −0.291 | Israel | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,518 |
| −0.931 | −0.628 | −1.23 | Iceland | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 1,575 |
| 0.303 | 0.533 | 0.072 | Italy | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,450 |
| 0.922 | 1.14 | 0.702 | Lithuania | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,518 |
| −0.156 | 0.061 | −0.374 | Netherlands | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,204 |
| 0.037 | 0.272 | −0.199 | Norway | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,960 |
| −1.16 | −0.958 | −1.36 | Poland | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,783 |
| 0.801 | 1.01 | 0.597 | Portugal | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,650 |
| −1.24 | −1.05 | −1.43 | Sweden | Citizens have the final say | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,015 |
| −0.649 | −0.425 | −0.874 | Slovenia | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,383 |
| −0.361 | −0.093 | −0.629 | Slovakia | Citizens have the final say | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,147 |
| −0.338 | −0.176 | −0.499 | Belgium | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,181 |
| 0.175 | 0.341 | 0.008 | Bulgaria | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,822 |
| 0.273 | 0.394 | 0.153 | Switzerland | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,954 |
| −0.740 | −0.430 | −1.05 | Cyprus | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 1,957 |
| 0.682 | 0.850 | 0.514 | Czechia | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,367 |
| −0.338 | −0.230 | −0.446 | Germany | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 11,487 |
| 0.746 | 0.898 | 0.595 | Estonia | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,772 |
| 0.684 | 0.853 | 0.515 | Spain | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,089 |
| 0.464 | 0.584 | 0.345 | Finland | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,706 |
| 0.117 | 0.286 | −0.053 | France | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,870 |
| −0.364 | −0.162 | −0.567 | United Kingdom | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,249 |
| 0.503 | 0.686 | 0.321 | Hungary | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,696 |
| 0.791 | 0.970 | 0.612 | Ireland | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 4,223 |
| −1.64 | −1.38 | −1.89 | Israel | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,716 |
| 0.875 | 1.09 | 0.658 | Iceland | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 1,605 |
| 1.08 | 1.27 | 0.892 | Italy | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,525 |
| 0.133 | 0.327 | −0.062 | Lithuania | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,559 |
| −0.166 | −0.026 | −0.306 | Netherlands | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,254 |
| 0.378 | 0.548 | 0.209 | Norway | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,016 |
| −1.24 | −1.07 | −1.41 | Poland | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 3,827 |
| 1.64 | 1.81 | 1.47 | Portugal | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,813 |
| −0.831 | −0.686 | −0.977 | Sweden | Satisfaction with democracy | Self-completion in Round 10 | 4,082 |
| 0.699 | 0.892 | 0.505 | Slovenia | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 2,427 |
| −0.642 | −0.419 | −0.864 | Slovakia | Satisfaction with democracy | Face to face in Round 10 | 3,210 |

Views: Face to face in Round 10 (mode = Face to face in Round 10); All countries; Self-completion in Round 10 (mode = Self-completion in Round 10).

Note: Round 10 fieldwork ran from 2020 to 2022. Countries that switched to self-completion in Round 10: Cyprus, Germany, Israel, Poland, Spain and Sweden. The ESS advises caution about comparisons over time in those countries.

Note: Intervals are for each country alone and omit design effects. A country needs an effective sample of at least 100 in each round on every item.

Source: European Social Survey, Round 6 (2012 to 2013) and Round 10 (2020 to 2022); weighted (weight, design and population weights within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/ess_change.json

### Table 9. The fixed set has 39 countries, and 30 of them meet the floors for the age and cohort comparisons

Fieldwork years, survey program and respondents answering the democratic-system question, by country and wave, for the countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7

| Country | Wave 3 survey | Wave 3 respondents | Wave 5 survey | Wave 5 respondents | Wave 7 survey | Wave 7 respondents | Program, Wave 3 to Wave 7 | In the age and cohort figures |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | --- |
| Argentina | 1995, WVS* | 1,042 | 2006, WVS* | 917 | 2017, WVS* | 973 | Same program | Yes |
| Armenia | 1997, WVS* | 1,630 | 2008, EVS* | 1,361 | 2018 to 2021, EVS* | 2,566 | Program switched | Yes |
| Australia | 1995, WVS* | 1,872 | 2005, WVS* | 1,376 | 2018, WVS* | 1,732 | Same program | Yes |
| Belarus | 1996, WVS* | 1,726 | 2008, EVS* | 1,236 | 2018, EVS* | 1,435 | Program switched | Yes |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | 1998, WVS* | 1,163 | 2008, EVS* | 1,399 | 2019, EVS* | 1,676 | Program switched | Yes |
| Brazil | 1997, WVS* | 1,095 | 2006, WVS* | 1,443 | 2018, WVS* | 1,469 | Same program | Yes |
| Bulgaria | 1997, WVS* | 839 | 2006 to 2008, EVS* | 2,048 | 2017, EVS* | 1,372 | Program switched | Yes |
| Chile | 1996, WVS* | 935 | 2006, WVS* | 915 | 2018, WVS* | 910 | Same program | No |
| Colombia | 1997 to 1998, WVS* | 5,759 | 2005, WVS* | 2,826 | 2018, WVS* | 1,520 | Same program | Yes |
| Croatia | 1996, WVS* | 1,155 | 2008, EVS* | 1,368 | 2017, EVS* | 1,437 | Program switched | Yes |
| Czechia | 1998, WVS* | 1,092 | 2008, EVS* | 1,592 | 2017 to 2022, EVS* | 2,803 | Program switched | Yes |
| Estonia | 1996, WVS* | 933 | 2008, EVS* | 1,342 | 2018, EVS* | 1,141 | Program switched | Yes |
| Finland | 1996, WVS* | 905 | 2005 to 2009, EVS* | 1,998 | 2017, EVS* | 1,131 | Program switched | Yes |
| Georgia | 1996, WVS* | 1,801 | 2008 to 2009, WVS* | 2,680 | 2018, EVS* | 2,003 | Program switched | Yes |
| Germany | 1997, WVS* | 1,974 | 2006 to 2008, WVS* | 3,874 | 2017 to 2018, EVS* | 3,573 | Program switched | Yes |
| Hungary | 1998, WVS* | 595 | 2008 to 2009, EVS* | 2,392 | 2018, EVS* | 1,445 | Program switched | Yes |
| India | 1995, WVS* | 1,576 | 2006, WVS* | 1,527 | 2023, WVS* | 1,267 | Same program | No |
| Japan | 1995, WVS* | 918 | 2005, WVS* | 964 | 2019, WVS* | 1,172 | Same program | No |
| Latvia | 1996, WVS* | 1,099 | 2008, EVS* | 1,320 | 2021, EVS* | 1,186 | Program switched | Yes |
| Lithuania | 1997, WVS* | 847 | 2008, EVS* | 1,164 | 2018, EVS* | 1,315 | Program switched | Yes |
| Mexico | 1996, WVS* | 1,286 | 2005, WVS* | 1,456 | 2018, WVS* | 1,702 | Same program | Yes |
| Montenegro | 1996, WVS* | 220 | 2008, EVS* | 1,315 | 2019, EVS* | 932 | Program switched | No |
| New Zealand | 1998, WVS* | 998 | 2004, WVS* | 762 | 2020, WVS* | 914 | Same program | No |
| North Macedonia | 1998, WVS* | 852 | 2008, EVS* | 1,358 | 2019, EVS* | 1,034 | Program switched | Yes |
| Norway | 1996, WVS* | 1,108 | 2007 to 2008, EVS* | 2,090 | 2018, EVS* | 1,109 | Program switched | Yes |
| Peru | 1996, WVS* | 1,094 | 2006, WVS* | 1,392 | 2018, WVS* | 1,336 | Same program | No |
| Romania | 1998, WVS* | 1,090 | 2005 to 2008, WVS* | 2,848 | 2018, EVS* | 2,582 | Program switched | Yes |
| Russia | 1995, WVS* | 1,590 | 2006 to 2008, WVS* | 2,821 | 2017, EVS* | 3,148 | Program switched | Yes |
| Serbia | 1996, WVS* | 1,088 | 2006 to 2008, EVS* | 2,374 | 2017 to 2018, EVS* | 2,183 | Program switched | Yes |
| Slovakia | 1998, WVS* | 1,041 | 2008, EVS* | 1,285 | 2017 to 2022, EVS* | 2,474 | Program switched | No |
| Slovenia | 1995, WVS* | 927 | 2005 to 2008, EVS* | 2,212 | 2017, EVS* | 1,033 | Program switched | Yes |
| South Korea | 1996, WVS* | 1,231 | 2005, WVS* | 1,199 | 2018, WVS* | 1,245 | Same program | Yes |
| Spain | 1995, WVS* | 1,140 | 2007 to 2008, EVS* | 2,582 | 2017, EVS* | 1,176 | Program switched | Yes |
| Sweden | 1996, WVS* | 978 | 2006 to 2009, EVS* | 2,022 | 2017, EVS* | 1,170 | Program switched | Yes |
| Switzerland | 1996, WVS* | 1,092 | 2007 to 2008, EVS* | 2,433 | 2017, EVS* | 3,111 | Program switched | Yes |
| Taiwan ROC | 1995, WVS* | 743 | 2006, WVS* | 1,216 | 2019, WVS* | 1,200 | Same program | Yes |
| Ukraine | 1996, WVS* | 1,935 | 2006 to 2008, EVS* | 1,998 | 2020, EVS* | 2,523 | Program switched | No |
| United States | 1995, WVS* | 1,433 | 2006, WVS* | 1,200 | 2017, WVS* | 2,509 | Same program | Yes |
| Uruguay | 1996, WVS* | 965 | 2006, WVS* | 931 | 2022, WVS* | 933 | Same program | No |

Note: A country is in the set when its effective sample is at least 100 on each of the four political-system items in Waves 3, 5 and 7. The respondent counts are unweighted. Countries with fewer than the floor in some age or cohort cell are left out of the age and cohort figures.

Note: An asterisk marks a country and wave in which both programs appear; the program shown has more respondents. Albania also meets the rule for the set and is left out because of its Wave 3 response pattern. Turkey is left out because its Wave 7 survey has no army-rule item. China, Poland and the United Kingdom were not surveyed in Wave 3.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, Waves 3, 5 and 7 (1995 to 2023); weighted (weight, S017 within country; equal weight per country across countries)

Data: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/country_set.json

## All estimates

Every fact in facts.json (189), sorted by id.

| Fact id | Value | Unit | Estimand | Population | Period | Interval | n | Weights | Source | Note |
| --- | ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- | --- | --- |
| age_adult_min | 18 | years of age | lowest age in the sample | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| age_old_min | 55 | years of age | lowest age of the older group | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| age_young_max | 34 | years of age | highest age of the young group | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| age_young_min | 18 | years of age | lowest age of the young group | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_all4 | 39.5% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling all four ways of governing good | adults aged 18 or older in Albania who answered all four political-system items | 1998 | 95% CI 35.9% to 43.2% | 688 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_all4_med | 2.9% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share calling all four ways of governing good | median across the 39 other countries of the fixed set | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_all4_next | 24.7% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling all four ways of governing good | the country of the fixed set with the highest share after Albania (Brazil) | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_army3 | 82.0% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in Albania | 1998 | 95% CI 79.4% to 84.5% | 871 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_army4 | 11.6% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in Albania | 2002 | 95% CI 9.5% to 13.6% | 908 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_vg3 | 42.5% | percent of respondents | weighted share rating both army rule and a democratic system very good | adults aged 18 or older in Albania who answered the army-rule and democratic-system items | 1998 | 95% CI 39.2% to 45.9% | 844 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_vg5 | 1.2% | percent of respondents | weighted share rating both army rule and a democratic system very good | adults aged 18 or older in Albania who answered the army-rule and democratic-system items | 2008 | 95% CI 0.5% to 2.0% | 1,255 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alb_w4_year | 2002 | year | year of fieldwork | Albania, Wave 4 | 2002 |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alt3 | 33.2% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic system good and at least one of a strong leader and army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 28.4% to 38.0% | 45,779 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alt7 | 44.5% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic system good and at least one of a strong leader and army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 37.9% to 51.0% | 59,782 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| alt_chg | +11.3 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic system good and at least one of a strong leader and army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 6.7 to 15.8 | 105,561 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army3 | 13.0% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 9.7% to 16.4% | 50,168 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army5 | 15.2% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 11.5% to 18.9% | 67,524 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army7 | 20.7% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 15.8% to 25.5% | 63,635 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army_chg | +7.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.7 to 11.5 | 113,803 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army_chg_35 | +2.1 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 5 | 95% CI −0.2 to 4.4 | 117,692 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army_chg_57 | +5.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.0 to 8.0 | 131,159 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army_chg_alb | +5.8 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 40 countries of the fixed set with Albania, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 0.5 to 11.1 | 116,051 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| army_rise | 7.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the rise in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.7 to 11.5 | 113,803 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | The same estimate as army_chg, printed without a sign. |
| chg_army_o | +4.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −0.4 to 9.4 | 29,283 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| chg_army_y | +10.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 5.4 to 14.6 | 29,621 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| chg_lead_o | +4.1 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −1.0 to 9.1 | 29,082 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| chg_lead_y | +11.1 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 5.8 to 16.3 | 29,420 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| coh_lead_c7 | 48.0% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country for respondents born 1987 or later | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 40.4% to 55.5% | 11,332 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| const_w3 | 32 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set whose survey gives every respondent the same weight | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| const_w5 | 6 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set whose survey gives every respondent the same weight | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| const_w7 | 4 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set whose survey gives every respondent the same weight | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem3 | 88.5% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 86.1% to 90.8% | 49,767 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem5 | 88.4% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 86.6% to 90.3% | 67,236 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem7 | 89.7% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 87.7% to 91.7% | 64,440 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem_chg | +1.2 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −1.0 to 3.4 | 114,207 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem_chg_35 | 0.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 5 | 95% CI −2.3 to 2.2 | 117,003 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem_chg_57 | +1.3 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −0.6 to 3.2 | 131,676 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dem_chg_lo_abs | 1.0 | percentage points | size of the average fall at the lower end of the 95% interval for the change in the share calling a democratic system good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | Positive number: the lower end of the interval is a fall of this size. |
| dmc_med | 6.08 | points on the 1 to 10 scale | median across countries of the weighted mean rating of how democratically the country is governed | median across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| dmc_us | 6.05 | points on the 1 to 10 scale | weighted mean rating of how democratically the country is governed | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| down_army | 3 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval below zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling army rule a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| down_dem | 10 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval below zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| down_lead | 8 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval below zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| ess_elec_f2f | +0.13 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean rating of how far elections are free and fair in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −0.15 to 0.41 | 61,860 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_media_chg_abs | 0.63 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the fall in the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 24 countries with every item in ESS Rounds 6 and 10, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI 0.27 to 0.99 | 91,003 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey | Positive number: a fall of this size. |
| ess_media_f2f | −0.38 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −0.72 to −0.04 | 62,171 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_media_f2f_abs | 0.38 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the fall in the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI 0.04 to 0.72 | 62,171 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey | Positive number: a fall of this size. |
| ess_media_f2f_down | 10 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval below zero | ESS countries in the set that kept face-to-face interviews, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in the media-freedom rating | Round 6 to Round 10 |   |   | none (count) | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_media_f2f_r10 | 6.83 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 10 (2020 to 2022) |   | 29,724 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_media_f2f_r6 | 7.21 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 (2012 to 2013) |   | 32,447 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_media_self | −1.38 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean rating of how far the media are free to criticize the government applies in the country | adults in the 6 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were self-completion, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −2.38 to −0.38 | 28,832 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_min_f2f | +0.14 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean rating of how far minority rights are protected in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −0.11 to 0.39 | 61,190 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_sat_f2f | +0.39 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean satisfaction with the way democracy works in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI 0.11 to 0.67 | 62,249 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_sat_self | −0.68 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean satisfaction with the way democracy works in the country | adults in the 6 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were self-completion, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −1.53 to 0.16 | 29,158 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| ess_say_f2f | −0.08 | points on the 0 to 10 scale | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the mean rating of how far citizens have the final say through voting in the country | adults in the 18 ESS countries of the set whose Round 10 interviews were face-to-face, equal weight per country | Round 6 to Round 10 | 95% CI −0.37 to 0.21 | 61,064 | weight (anweight) within country; equal weight per country across countries | European Social Survey |   |
| exp3 | 61.0% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling experts making decisions a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 56.1% to 66.0% | 47,936 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| exp7 | 63.9% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling experts making decisions a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 58.8% to 69.0% | 62,657 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| exp_chg | +2.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling experts making decisions a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −1.3 to 7.0 | 110,593 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| exp_vs_lead_abs | 7.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share calling a strong leader good minus the change in the share calling experts making decisions good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 1.3 to 12.7 | 110,593 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| floor_neff | 100 | effective respondents | minimum Kish effective sample size of a country cell (b3.stats.FLOORS wvs_ess_mean) | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| floor_sub | 100 | respondents and effective respondents | minimum size of a country cell for an age group, cohort or left-right group (b3.stats.FLOORS subgroup_year) | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| fw_army | +5.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 17 countries observed in every wave from 3 to 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 1.1 to 9.6 | 50,559 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| fw_dem | +1.1 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 17 countries observed in every wave from 3 to 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −3.1 to 5.3 | 50,703 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| fw_lead | +11.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 17 countries observed in every wave from 3 to 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 2.8 to 20.0 | 50,021 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_army3_abs | 3.2 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 55 or older minus that among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 1.7 to 4.8 | 40,439 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_army7 | +2.2 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI −0.5 to 4.9 | 51,485 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_dem7 | −1.3 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI −2.6 to 0.0 | 51,979 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_exp7 | +5.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling experts making decisions a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 1.8 to 9.0 | 50,829 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_lead3_abs | 6.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among adults aged 55 or older minus that among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 3.6 to 9.7 | 39,946 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gap_lead7 | +0.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI −1.9 to 2.6 | 51,421 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gapchg_army | +5.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the gap between adults aged 18 to 34 and adults aged 55 or older in the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 2.1 to 8.8 | 58,904 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gapchg_dem | −1.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the gap between adults aged 18 to 34 and adults aged 55 or older in the share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −3.1 to 0.4 | 58,931 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| gapchg_lead | +7.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the gap between adults aged 18 to 34 and adults aged 55 or older in the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 30 countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.8 to 10.2 | 58,502 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp5 | 50.6% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) to the importance of living in a democracy | adults aged 18 or older in the 46 countries with the importance question in Waves 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 46.5% to 54.6% | 62,332 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp7 | 53.2% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) to the importance of living in a democracy | adults aged 18 or older in the 46 countries with the importance question in Waves 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 48.9% to 57.6% | 85,854 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_chg | +2.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share giving the top rating on the importance question | adults aged 18 or older in the 46 countries with the importance question in Waves 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −1.0 to 6.3 | 148,186 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_cohb5 | 44.2% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question for respondents born 1978 to 1986 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 39.6% to 48.8% | 9,803 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_cohb7 | 51.6% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question for respondents born 1978 to 1986 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 46.8% to 56.3% | 11,913 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_cohb_chg | +7.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share giving the top rating on the importance question for respondents born 1978 to 1986 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 2.8 to 12.0 | 21,716 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_cohc7 | 46.4% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question for respondents born 1987 or later | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 41.9% to 50.8% | 16,196 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_gap5_abs | 6.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question among adults aged 55 or older minus that among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 3.5 to 10.4 | 51,271 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_gap7_abs | 9.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question among adults aged 55 or older minus that among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 4.9 to 14.0 | 72,171 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_gapchg | −2.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the gap between adults aged 18 to 34 and adults aged 55 or older in the share giving the top rating on the importance question | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −5.7 to 0.6 | 123,442 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_same_age | +2.2 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share giving the top rating on the importance question for respondents born 1987 or later in Wave 7 minus that for respondents born 1978 to 1986 in Wave 5 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 and Wave 7 | 95% CI −2.1 to 6.5 | 25,999 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_y5 | 45.1% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 40.8% to 49.5% | 18,201 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_y7 | 47.0% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 42.5% to 51.4% | 19,664 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| imp_y_chg | +1.8 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the share giving the top rating on the importance question among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults aged 18 or older in the 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −2.2 to 5.8 | 37,865 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| in_army | 14 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval includes zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling army rule a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| in_dem | 11 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval includes zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| in_lead | 6 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval includes zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| jump_cut | 40 | percentage points | size of a change between adjacent waves that only Albania reaches among the countries of the set | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_ess | 24 | countries | count of countries | ESS countries with every item above the floor in Rounds 6 and 10 | Rounds 6 and 10 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_ess_f2f | 18 | countries | count of countries | ESS countries in the set that kept face-to-face interviews in Round 10 | Round 10 (2020 to 2022) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_ess_self | 6 | countries | count of countries | ESS countries in the set that switched to self-completion in Round 10 | Round 10 (2020 to 2022) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_ess_switch_all | 9 | countries | count of countries named in the ESS data-release note | ESS countries that switched to self-completion in Round 10 (ESS data-release note, December 2022) | Round 10 (2020 to 2022) |   |   | none (count) | European Social Survey |   |
| k_five | 17 | countries | count of countries | countries with every political-system item above the floor in every wave from 3 to 7 | Waves 3 to 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_imp | 46 | countries | count of countries | countries with the importance question above the floor in Waves 5 and 7 | Waves 5 and 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_imp_sub | 37 | countries | count of countries | countries with every importance cell above the floor | Waves 5 and 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_lr | 73 | countries | count of countries | countries in Wave 7 with a left group and a right group above the floor | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_lr_army | 71 | countries | count of countries | countries in Wave 7 with a left group and a right group above the floor on the army-rule item | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_others | 38 | countries | count of countries | the countries of the fixed set other than the United States | Waves 3, 5 and 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_panel | 39 | countries | count of countries | countries with every political-system item above the floor in Waves 3, 5 and 7 | Waves 3, 5 and 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_same | 14 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set whose survey program (WVS or EVS) with the most respondents is the same in Wave 3 and Wave 7 | Wave 3 and Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_sub | 30 | countries | count of countries | countries with every age-group and cohort cell above the floor | Waves 3, 5 and 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_sw | 25 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set whose survey program changed from WVS in Wave 3 to EVS in Wave 7 | Wave 3 and Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_xs7 | 92 | countries | count of countries | countries surveyed in Wave 7 with an effective sample at or above the floor | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| k_xs7_army | 90 | countries | count of countries | countries surveyed in Wave 7 with an effective sample at or above the floor on the army-rule item | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead3 | 38.2% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 32.9% to 43.4% | 49,235 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead5 | 41.5% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 (2004 to 2009) | 95% CI 35.4% to 47.5% | 66,325 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead7 | 48.1% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 41.1% to 55.0% | 63,671 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead_chg | +9.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 4.9 to 14.9 | 112,906 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead_chg_35 | +3.3 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 5 | 95% CI −0.6 to 7.2 | 115,560 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead_chg_57 | +6.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 5 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.3 to 9.9 | 129,996 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lead_rise | 9.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the rise in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 4.9 to 14.9 | 112,906 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS | The same estimate as lead_chg, printed without a sign. |
| lr_army | +4.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among the right group (placements 7 to 10) minus that among the left group (placements 1 to 4) | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the 71 countries with both groups above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 2.7 to 6.4 | 61,267 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_dem | −0.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country among the right group (placements 7 to 10) minus that among the left group (placements 1 to 4) | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the 73 countries with both groups above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI −1.6 to 0.4 | 63,522 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_lead | +7.1 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among the right group (placements 7 to 10) minus that among the left group (placements 1 to 4) | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the 73 countries with both groups above the floor, equal weight per country | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 4.9 to 9.3 | 62,897 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_lead_down | 3 | countries | count of countries whose difference has an interval below zero | countries in Wave 7 with a left group and a right group above the floor, each judged by its own 95% interval for the right minus left difference in approval of a strong leader | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_lead_in | 32 | countries | count of countries whose difference has an interval that includes zero | countries in Wave 7 with a left group and a right group above the floor, each judged by its own 95% interval for the right minus left difference in approval of a strong leader | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_lead_up | 38 | countries | count of countries whose difference has an interval above zero | countries in Wave 7 with a left group and a right group above the floor, each judged by its own 95% interval for the right minus left difference in approval of a strong leader | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_left_max | 4 | position on the 1 to 10 left-right scale | highest placement counted as left | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_missing_med | 13.5% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share who did not place themselves on the left-right scale | adults aged 18 or older, median across the countries surveyed in Wave 7 that asked the left-right question | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_missing_us | 2.3% | percent of respondents | weighted share who did not place themselves on the left-right scale | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| lr_right_min | 7 | position on the 1 to 10 left-right scale | lowest placement counted as right | definition used in the chapter | not applicable |   |   | none (definition) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| nod3 | 11.5% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share not calling a democratic system good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 9.1% to 13.8% | 45,779 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| nod7 | 10.6% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share not calling a democratic system good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 8.5% to 12.7% | 59,782 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| nod_chg | −0.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share not calling a democratic system good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −3.1 to 1.4 | 105,561 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only3 | 55.3% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 (1995 to 1998) | 95% CI 49.7% to 61.0% | 45,779 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only7 | 44.9% | percent of respondents | equal-weight mean across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) | 95% CI 37.4% to 52.4% | 59,782 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only_chg | −10.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −15.8 to −5.0 | 105,561 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only_chg_alb | −8.9 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the 40 countries of the fixed set with Albania, equal weight per country, who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −15.0 to −2.7 | 107,652 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only_down | 24 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval below zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own interval for the change in the democracy-only share | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| only_up | 7 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval above zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own interval for the change in the democracy-only share | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| oth_dem_chg | +1.4 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 38 other countries of the fixed set, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −0.8 to 3.6 | 114,207 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| prog_diff_dem | −6.2 | percentage points | difference between the two groups of the equal-weight mean change in the share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country (Welch interval) | countries whose survey program stayed the same minus countries whose program switched | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −10.1 to −2.4 | 114,207 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| prog_same_dem | −2.8 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 14 countries whose survey program stayed the same between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −5.6 to 0.1 | 39,829 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| prog_same_lead | +16.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 14 countries whose survey program stayed the same between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 7.9 to 24.0 | 38,981 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| prog_sw_dem | +3.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 25 countries whose survey program switched between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 0.7 to 6.2 | 74,378 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| prog_sw_lead | +6.5 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 25 countries whose survey program switched between Wave 3 and Wave 7, equal weight per country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 0.2 to 12.8 | 73,925 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| ratio_med | 11.0 | ratio of interval widths | median across the fixed-set estimates of the country-clustered standard error over the standard error that counts only within-country sampling | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country | Waves 3, 5 and 7 |   |   | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| unw_army | +7.0 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the unweighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country (unweighted within country) | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.2 to 10.8 | 113,803 | none (unweighted within country); equal weight per country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| unw_dem | +1.6 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the unweighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country (unweighted within country) | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −0.6 to 3.7 | 114,207 | none (unweighted within country); equal weight per country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| unw_lead | +8.8 | percentage points | equal-weight mean across countries of the change in the unweighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the 39 countries observed in Waves 3, 5 and 7, equal weight per country (unweighted within country) | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.9 to 13.8 | 112,906 | none (unweighted within country); equal weight per country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| up_army | 22 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval above zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling army rule a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| up_dem | 18 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval above zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| up_lead | 25 | countries | count of countries whose change has an interval above zero | countries of the fixed set, each judged by its own 95% interval for the change in calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_age_army_gap17 | +17.1 | percentage points | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 12.3 to 21.9 | 1,658 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_age_army_gap95 | +1.1 | percentage points | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among adults aged 18 to 34 minus that among adults aged 55 or older; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI −2.5 to 4.7 | 938 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_army17 | 20.9% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 18.9% to 22.9% | 2,528 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_army95 | 6.6% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI 5.1% to 8.0% | 1,476 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_dem11 | 82.3% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2011 | 95% CI 80.4% to 84.2% | 2,164 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_dem17 | 85.0% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 83.2% to 86.8% | 2,509 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_dem95 | 90.6% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI 88.9% to 92.3% | 1,433 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_dem_chg | −5.6 | percentage points | weighted share in 2017 minus 1995; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 to 2017 | 95% CI −8.1 to −3.1 | 3,942 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_dem_fewer | 4 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set other than the United States with a larger fall in the share calling a democratic system good | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_imp_gap17_abs | 35.5 | percentage points | weighted share giving the top rating (10) on the importance question among adults aged 55 or older minus that among adults aged 18 to 34 | adults in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 29.8 to 41.3 | 1,677 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lead17 | 38.1% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 35.6% to 40.5% | 2,541 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lead95 | 24.9% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI 22.4% to 27.4% | 1,441 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_army | +13.2 | percentage points | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 8.6 to 17.8 | 1,644 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_army95 | −0.7 | percentage points | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI −4.7 to 3.3 | 623 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_dem | −7.1 | percentage points | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI −11.1 to −3.2 | 1,633 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_dem95 | −0.9 | percentage points | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI −6.0 to 4.1 | 618 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_lead | +16.2 | percentage points | weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 10.4 to 22.0 | 1,649 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_lead95 | +0.6 | percentage points | weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country among the right group minus that among the left group; independent groups, standard errors combined | adults placing themselves on the left-right scale in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI −6.7 to 7.9 | 614 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_lr_lead_more | 12 | countries | count of countries | countries in Wave 7 with a larger right minus left difference in approval of a strong leader than the United States | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_only17 | 51.5% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the United States who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | 2017 | 95% CI 49.0% to 54.1% | 2,479 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_only95 | 68.2% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic system good and neither a strong leader nor army rule good | adults aged 18 or older in the United States who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | 1995 | 95% CI 65.4% to 71.0% | 1,370 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_only_chg | −16.7 | percentage points | weighted share in 2017 minus 1995; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 or older in the United States who answered the democratic-system, strong-leader and army items | 1995 to 2017 | 95% CI −20.4 to −12.9 | 3,849 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_only_rank | 11 | countries | count of countries | countries of the fixed set other than the United States with a larger fall in the democracy-only share | Wave 3 to Wave 7 |   |   | none (count) | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army06 | 18.1% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 2006 | 95% CI 12.7% to 23.4% | 296 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army11 | 23.5% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 2011 | 95% CI 19.3% to 27.7% | 510 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army17 | 29.9% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 26.3% to 33.6% | 951 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army95 | 7.1% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI 4.2% to 10.1% | 390 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army99 | 11.1% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1999 | 95% CI 8.0% to 14.3% | 409 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_army_chg | +22.8 | percentage points | weighted share in 2017 minus 1995 calling army rule a good way of governing the country; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 to 2017 | 95% CI 18.1 to 27.5 | 1,341 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_dem17 | 77.7% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 74.4% to 81.0% | 947 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_dem95 | 87.6% | percent of respondents | weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 | 95% CI 83.8% to 91.4% | 372 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| us_young_dem_chg | −9.9 | percentage points | weighted share in 2017 minus 1995 calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country; independent samples, standard errors combined | adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States | 1995 to 2017 | 95% CI −14.9 to −4.8 | 1,319 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| vs_army | +6.9 | percentage points | United States change minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard errors combined) in the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | United States against the 38 other countries of the fixed set | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 2.3 to 11.5 | 117,807 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| vs_army_alb | +8.7 | percentage points | United States change minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard errors combined) in the share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | United States against the 39 other countries of the fixed set with Albania | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 3.0 to 14.5 | 120,055 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| vs_dem | −7.0 | percentage points | United States change minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard errors combined) in the share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | United States against the 38 other countries of the fixed set | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −10.3 to −3.7 | 118,149 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| vs_exp | +13.5 | percentage points | United States change minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard errors combined) in the share calling experts making decisions a good way of governing the country | United States against the 38 other countries of the fixed set | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI 7.9 to 19.0 | 114,555 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| vs_lead | +3.4 | percentage points | United States change minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard errors combined) in the share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | United States against the 38 other countries of the fixed set | Wave 3 to Wave 7 | 95% CI −2.7 to 9.4 | 116,888 | weight (S017) within country; equal weight per country across countries | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_army_med | 20.3% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share calling army rule a good way of governing the country | median across the 90 countries surveyed in Wave 7 | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_dem_med | 90.5% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share calling a democratic political system a good way of governing the country | median across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_imp_med | 50.2% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share giving the top rating (10) to the importance of living in a democracy | median across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_imp_us | 49.9% | percent of respondents | weighted share giving the top rating (10) to the importance of living in a democracy | adults aged 18 or older in the United States | 2017 | 95% CI 47.4% to 52.4% | 2,552 | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_lead_gap | 13.6 | percentage points | median across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country minus the United States share | median across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 minus the United States | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |
| xs_lead_med | 51.7% | percent of respondents | median across countries of the weighted share calling a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections a good way of governing the country | median across the 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 | Wave 7 (2017 to 2023) |   |   | weight (S017) within country | World Values Survey and EVS |   |

## Definitions

- Percentage point: The unit for the difference between two percentages. A change from one share to another is stated in points, not in percent, so that absolute and relative change are not confused.
- Effective sample size: The number of equally weighted respondents that would give the same precision as the weighted sample. It is smaller than the raw count when the weights vary a lot, and it sets how wide the confidence interval is.
- Cohort: People born in the same period, such as the same decade. Comparing cohorts shows whether a difference comes from when people were born, as distinct from their age or the year they were surveyed.
- Survey mode: How respondents were interviewed: in person, by phone, on paper or online. Mode can change answers, so a change in mode can look like a change in opinion.

## Methods

Sample: respondents aged 18 or older in the cleaned World Values Survey and European Values Study file (WVS/EVS, 666,907 respondents in all, seven unified waves; 657,686 adult respondents with a positive weight). The political-system questions (E114 strong leader, E115 experts, E116 army rule and E117 a democratic political system) were asked from Wave 3 on; importance of living in a democracy (E235) and how democratically the country is governed (E236) from Wave 5. "Good" is a rating of fairly good or very good (codes 3 and 4 of the cleaned file, where the dictionary direction is low = very bad and high = very good); the top rating on importance is 10. Fixed set: the countries with an effective sample of at least 100 on every one of the four political-system items in each of Waves 3, 5 and 7 (Wave 3 fieldwork 1995 to 1998, Wave 5 2004 to 2009, Wave 7 2017 to 2023), less Albania, which meets that rule: 39 countries. Turkey is out because its Wave 7 survey has no army-rule item; China, Poland and the United Kingdom are out because they were not surveyed in Wave 3. Albania is out because its Wave 3 survey (1998) has an implausible response pattern: 39.5 percent of respondents call all four ways of governing good against a median of 2.9 percent in the other countries of the set (the next highest is 24.7 percent), 42.5 percent rate both army rule and a democratic system very good against 1.2 percent in Wave 5, and it is the only country with a change above 40 points between adjacent waves on any of the four shares. The chapter reports the set with Albania (40 countries) as a check. Other sets: 17 countries observed in every wave from 3 to 7 (a check); 46 countries with the importance question in Waves 5 and 7; 30 countries of the fixed set with every age-group and cohort cell at or above the floor for the four political-system items (the age and cohort comparisons); 37 countries with every importance cell above the floor; all 92 countries surveyed in Wave 7 for the cross-section (90 for the army-rule item); 73 countries with a left group and a right group above the floor in Wave 7 (71 for the army-rule item); 24 ESS countries. Weights: the WVS weight (S017) within each country. In 32 of the 39 countries of the fixed set the Wave 3 survey gives every respondent the same weight (6 in Wave 5 and 4 in Wave 7), so Wave 3 shares are in effect unweighted and later shares are weighted; the chapter reports the unweighted change as a check. A country cell is a weighted share or mean with a normal interval on the Kish effective sample size, which treats the weighted sample as a simple random sample. A figure for a set of countries gives every country the same weight: it is the mean of the country cells. Its interval is clustered by country, the standard deviation of the country values over the square root of the number of countries with a t critical value on one fewer degree of freedom. That interval is a median of 11.0 times as wide as one that counts only the sampling error inside the countries (range 6.6 to 15.3), because it also carries differences between countries and treats the countries as a sample of countries like them. The WVS file has no strata or primary sampling units, so no interval includes design effects. Contrasts between two waves or two groups (young minus older adults, right minus left, a later wave minus an earlier one) are computed country by country and then averaged over the countries that have both cells, so the paired design is kept; a contrast within one country combines the standard errors of two independent groups. The United States against the other countries is the American change (Kish standard error of two independent samples) minus the equal-weight mean change of the other countries (standard error clustered by country); the two standard errors combine in quadrature. The difference between two groups of countries (same survey program against switched program) uses a Welch t interval. A country is counted as having risen, fallen or held steady when its own interval for the change lies above zero, below zero or includes zero. Survey program: the program (WVS or EVS) with more respondents in the country and wave; Wave 3 is WVS in every country of the set and Wave 7 is WVS in 14 and EVS in 25; both programs appear in 117 country-waves. Every country whose program switched is in the World Bank region Europe and Central Asia and none of the others is, so program and region cannot be separated. Age groups are 18 to 34, 35 to 54 and 55 or older at interview. Birth year is the survey year minus age, so it can be wrong by one. Cohorts: born before 1960, 1960 to 1977, 1978 to 1986 and 1987 or later. The first three are shown in a wave only if every member was 18 or older at that wave's earliest fieldwork year in the set (1995, 2004 and 2017, so last birth years of at most 1977, 1986 and 1999); the last is open-ended and is shown in Wave 7 only, where it holds respondents born from 1987 who were 18 or older at interview. Left is placement 1 to 4 and right is 7 to 10 on the ten-point scale. Floors: a country cell for a whole-country share needs an effective sample of at least 100 (b3.stats wvs_ess_mean); a cell for an age group, cohort or left-right group needs at least 100 respondents and 100 effective respondents (b3.stats subgroup_year); no published cell rests on fewer than 30 respondents. Democracy only means a democratic system is good and neither a strong leader nor army rule is good; democracy and an alternative means a democratic system is good and at least one of the two is good; the third group does not call a democratic system good; all three require an answer to all three items. ESS: Round 6 (2012 to 2013) and Round 10 (2020 to 2022), the evaluation items (how far a feature of democracy applies in the country, 0 to 10) and satisfaction with democracy; the clean file keeps no importance battery. Round 10 used self-completion instead of face-to-face interviews in nine countries, six of them in the ESS set (Cyprus, Germany, Israel, Poland, Spain and Sweden), so the ESS figure leads with the 18 face-to-face countries and has a mode split. Interview mode in the WVS: the file has no interview-mode variable. The WVS documentation lists face-to-face interviews for the American 1995 survey, a self-administered web survey by Knowledge Networks for 2006, web and telephone interviews for 2017 (fieldwork 28 April to 31 May 2017), and for 2011 a Knowledge Networks online panel while the catalog's mode field gives the program standard of face-to-face interviews. Some Wave 7 surveys in other countries also used web or self-completion modes. Rounding: displays round half up from the unrounded estimate and differences are computed before rounding, so a printed difference can differ by 0.1 from the difference of two printed shares, and the average of country differences differs from the difference of two averages when a country has a cell in one wave only.

## What these data cannot show

- The questions ask whether four ways of governing the country would be good, not whether a respondent would act on the view, and a rating of a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections may mean different things to different respondents.
- Items on the legitimacy of elections and on political violence, which come closer to behavior, are in Chapter 5.4, Political violence and democratic norms (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/political-violence-and-democratic-norms).
- Confidence in institutions outside the United States is the subject of Planned, Institutional trust outside the United States (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/institutional-trust-outside-the-united-states; planned), and Chapter 5.1, Confidence in thirteen institutions (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/confidence-in-institutions) covers the United States.
- Each wave interviews different people, so the chapter describes how distributions changed and not how individuals did.
- The data end in 2023 and say nothing about the period since the 2024 United States election.
- Differences in how the surveys were run can look like change.
- The WVS file carries no interview-mode variable.
- The American survey was face to face in 1995, on the web in 2006 and by web and telephone in 2017, and the 2011 documentation describes an online panel while listing face-to-face interviews as the program standard.
- Part of the American change could therefore come from a change of mode.
- The program switch between Wave 3 and Wave 7 is confounded with region, the Wave 3 surveys are in effect unweighted, and Albania shows that a country-wave can look unlike its neighbors for reasons the file does not record.
- The top rating on the importance question depends on how respondents use a ten-point scale, which varies by country and age.
- The age and cohort comparisons rest on assumptions that repeated cross-sections cannot test, and the left-right comparisons leave out respondents who do not place themselves.
- The ESS items measure evaluations of a country's democracy and not preferences among regimes, so the ESS cannot say whether appetite for an alternative rose in Europe.
- Nothing here is causal.
- The chapter does not say why approval of a strong leader rose or why young Americans differ.

## References

1. Kish, Leslie (1965). Survey Sampling. John Wiley and Sons.
2. Foa, Roberto Stefan; Mounk, Yascha (2016). The Danger of Deconsolidation: The Democratic Disconnect. Journal of Democracy 27(3): 5-17. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0049
3. Foa, Roberto Stefan; Mounk, Yascha (2017). The Signs of Deconsolidation. Journal of Democracy 28(1): 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2017.0000
4. Voeten, Erik (2017). Are People Really Turning Away from Democracy?. Journal of Democracy Web Exchange, Online Exchange on Democratic Deconsolidation. https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Journal-of-Democracy-Web-Exchange-Voeten_0.pdf
5. Norris, Pippa (2017). Is Western Democracy Backsliding? Diagnosing the Risks. Journal of Democracy Web Exchange, Online Exchange on Democratic Deconsolidation (also HKS Faculty Research Working Paper RWP17-012). https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Journal-of-Democracy-Web-Exchange-Norris_0.pdf
6. Alexander, Amy C.; Welzel, Christian (2017). The Myth of Deconsolidation: Rising Liberalism and the Populist Reaction. Journal of Democracy Web Exchange, Online Exchange on Democratic Deconsolidation. https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Journal-of-Democracy-Web-Exchange-Alexander-and-Welzel.pdf
7. Wuttke, Alexander; Gavras, Konstantin; Schoen, Harald (2022). Have Europeans Grown Tired of Democracy? New Evidence from Eighteen Consolidated Democracies, 1981-2018. British Journal of Political Science 52(1): 416-428. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123420000149

## Provenance

- Pipeline version: 1.0.0
- Build script: book3/chapters/support-for-democracy/build.py (sha256 ec9100773195fff4b7b07c9f99844ae10f65c884905876b8edc31d676a0d2d76)
- Built on: 2026-10-03
- Site commit: 16414b2c7257546a7042d0b1734657f208999f60

Inputs:

| File | Size (bytes) | SHA-256, first 1 MB | SHA-256, last 1 MB |
| --- | ---: | --- | --- |
| data/ess/ess_clean.parquet | 45,592,290 | 9487eead6817f028f5dd525709aa1b989ccd384384ef3700b9657cf68dd0b529 | 6def6b8c99fe6dbaf6abc744db6cabf584b900084600909b651870d99208e338 |
| data/wvs/wvs_clean.parquet | 71,974,374 | cef4479481f8a48d6c765d39dc5438d31daa32fcecee3f181aaaf8e257f41f0b | 59a8e3c369176b7e1a2cb37fc10b87985ed79b02fab2eae1cca08e7a972db061 |

Outputs:

| File | SHA-256 |
| --- | --- |
| facts.json | 79f8eb679b13e7700bff701b688519e55ab8f1f702e6dcbdfda0e69290f91b72 |
| figures/age_gaps.json | 0f84eb10a8b5365e8f3a1a7ec5927a0b822e14496a10fac704dd2851bb9b9735 |
| figures/change_by_country.json | 9ea944c671cc596b60cfe120665852d56f8aba4de431828e907d3d5a0de6697d |
| figures/cohort_lines.json | fd28c817beae19f91211c3e85d4d71f186cf3bccdc8bb06bb5591452a4999b60 |
| figures/committed.json | 0ef0289abc9ce5d2e2d0a69b7517d66da6f636885bc402c2a2c591ab0e177c41 |
| figures/country_set.json | 082b96cbb58b09bb1c12c9800c7836ccf19d367d06a4c958a21836727ed0549e |
| figures/ess_change.json | c82d1562b6f513feee5ecb74e43eb15f43d9ded6e0f42211dec975ab50941726 |
| figures/left_right_gap.json | 2c9892d4b470aad5700b5c73f00e32217c5be1e10d9b41feaca6d08c4cf8071e |
| figures/trend_items.json | 9e27e7c09e306ca077fd5183fc2e5180e4096d6393ee4df07a7628a16ccb037b |
| figures/us_vs_world.json | e19aa854b4a107d16330daf58fcec85e611c505492510612ba3d5b6c178659c1 |
| meta.json | 45eccaab95904b9a8a9ae698ab9b6a5ceba00b146d36b674d9b66c9b199b9718 |
| refs.json | b2b506c637591ac38319e738a0790eea952158843bdffba37c21c584f4895bde |

## Machine formats

- Report (HTML): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy/report
- Report (Markdown): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/support-for-democracy/report.md
- Every estimate (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/facts.json
- Table 1, figure "trend_items" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/trend_items.json
- Table 2, figure "change_by_country" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/change_by_country.json
- Table 3, figure "committed" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/committed.json
- Table 4, figure "us_vs_world" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/us_vs_world.json
- Table 5, figure "age_gaps" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/age_gaps.json
- Table 6, figure "cohort_lines" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/cohort_lines.json
- Table 7, figure "left_right_gap" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/left_right_gap.json
- Table 8, figure "ess_change" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/ess_change.json
- Table 9, figure "country_set" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/support-for-democracy/figures/country_set.json
- Index of every report: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/llms.txt; all reports in one file: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/llms-full.txt