According to the results of the Democracy Perception Index 2021 survey, conducted between February 24 and April 14 by Latana in collaboration with the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, 53 percent of Turks think there is not enough democracy in the country, while only 45 percent believe Turkey is democratic, Turkish Minute reported.
The results of the survey are based on nationally representative interviews with 53,194 people across 53 countries.
In Turkey 1,028 people participated in the survey, of which more than half want more democracy in the country, with a 12 percent increase from last year’s index. Turkey along with Peru, Greece, Argentina and Austria were the top five countries with the biggest increases in desire for democracy.
Nearly 40 percent of Turks believe that the Turkish government is mainly acting in the interest of a minority.
According to 68 percent of respondents in Turkey, economic inequality threatens democracy in the country, while 53 percent think unfair and corrupt elections threaten democracy.
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have a positive impact on democracy in the country, according to 63 percent of Turks.
Governments are not living up to the democratic expectations of their citizens, according to the index as a vast majority of people — 81 percent — continue to think that democracy is important, while only half feel like they have democracy in their country.
The biggest perceived threat to democracy around the world is economic inequality, according to the index.
According to the survey, people around the world are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their government’s response to the COVID crisis — especially in democracies, where satisfaction has dropped from 70 percent in the spring of 2020 to 51 percent one year later Concern that governments are doing too much to limit freedoms during COVID is also growing around the world, from 45 percent globally in the spring of 2020 to 53 percent.
“The positive support for an Alliance of Democracies, whether the UK’s D10 initiative or President Biden’s Summit for Democracy, shows that people want more cooperation to push back against the autocrats. Leaders should take note of these perceptions and act upon them,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO chief, former Danish prime minister and chair of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, said, remarking on the results of the survey.
