Fair Judiciary Tops Citizens Concerns on Democracy

It is easy to perceive that the concept of democracy changes from country to country and from person to person. However, there are common opinions, namely regarding the importance of attending elections or the most important principles for a fair democratic system.

Highlights:

• The majority of respondents to this survey are satisfied with their democratic system.
• 50% of respondents say that a fair judiciary is the most important pillar of democracy.
• Almost 62% of the respondents believe elections can change a country’s measures and policies.

Democracy started out as an abstract idea, functioning on a large scale, almost like a utopia. With the advancement of history and social movements like that of the famous suffragists in New Zealand (the first women to claim the right to vote), the adoption of democracy as the norm concept became broader.

Also Read: Pew Survey Finds People Around the World Are Disengaged From Politics

In some developing countries, democracy is still in its infancy. On the other hand, in developed countries, the perception of traditional democracy has been changing.

In this in-depth research on the global perception of democracy, Real Research online survey application realized that regardless of the democratic system, the ruling party, or an individual’s political position, the main pillars of democracy for our respondents’ fair judiciary, gender equality, or free speech.

As for people’s satisfaction concerning democratic systems in their countries, opinions are divided between satisfied and somewhat satisfied with surprisingly low rates of dissatisfaction.

Democracy Satisfaction Rates Are High Among Participants

To the question, “Are you satisfied with the democratic system in your country?” 439 out of 1000 participants (3.9%) agreed to be “somewhat satisfied” with their democratic system. In line with this, 26.7% of the participants are “very satisfied”; however, a similar percentage of 21.4% affirms being “somewhat non-satisfied” with their governmental system. Only 8% of the respondents say they are dissatisfied with their politics.

The chart above shows that the satisfaction rates are relatively high for the majority of respondents. This indicates that most people seem to be happy with their elected party or the way their country is run.

Fair Judiciary Tops People’s Concerns

It is surprising that when asked about the main principles of democracy, 50.3% of the people affirm that a fair judiciary system is the most essential value — Even though Real Research included options like gender equality (18.6%) or free religion (4%). Free speech is the second most important principle for the respondents, with 18.5% of respondents choosing this option.

It would be essential to understand why the fair judiciary tops the charts by posing around 50% of respondents’ opinions. This may show that other problems have been resolved faster than judiciary problems in multiple countries or, perhaps, the most important principle for achieving a real democratic system.

Respondents’ Believe in the Importance of Voting

With a still large percentage of countries living in totalitarian or non-democratic systems, it is satisfying to realize that people believe in the importance of an election to elect their countries’ leaders.

To the question, “In your opinion, what is the importance of an election to change the country’s measures and policies?”, 61.8% of respondents affirm being “very important” and 25.1% “somewhat important.” On the contrary, only 7.2% and 5.9% of respondents said “somewhat not important” and “not important at all”, respectively.

With the adoption of democracy globally changing and with countries taking totally different paths from the traditional systems, the Real Research survey understood that people are growing more satisfied with their democratic systems. In parallel, voting systems represent a fundamental pillar in people’s lives.