DISINFO: Most Western citizens don’t trust democracy
SUMMARY
Democracy? Most Western citizens don’t trust their political systems. There will be many elections in 2024 and the degree of satisfaction of citizens in several Western countries with their democracies is low, according to a new Ipsos survey in seven countries. This reveals the generalised discontent with a system that is perceived as favouring the rich and powerful.
RESPONSE
This is a deliberate distortion of the original Ipsos survey. The actual results are much more nuanced than what is claimed in this disinformation story. The Ipsos press release states that the survey:
'reveals support for democratic principles such as voting, building consensus, diffusion of power, despite widespread dissatisfaction with a system perceived to favour the rich and powerful'' approximately one in two people are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in their country'.
The manipulation of terms and messages is evident. The alleged discontent revealed by the survey is not with democracy itself, but rather with some perceived distortions within the overall system.
This disinformation narrative is part of a wider campaign to discredit democracy as a way to make Russia’s authoritarian system more acceptable.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that democracy is the perfect dictatorship, that authoritarian regimes are best at handling disasters, that studies show that China is more democratic than the US, that democracy and freedom prevented Europe from fighting the coronavirus effectively, or that the authoritarian West represses political participation of European people.