Poll: Two Thirds of Slovaks Dissatisfied with State of Democracy

Bratislava, February 4 (TASR) – As many as 68 percent of Slovaks are not satisfied with the way democracy is working, according to a survey carried out for Slovakia by the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) and International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) between October 13-November 28, 2016 on a sample of 1,150 respondents, TASR learnt on Saturday.

Conversely, only 29 percent of the population is satisfied with the state of democracy.

Olga Gyarfasova from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, who presented the results of the survey on Friday (February 3), pointed out that the positive perception of democracy fell by almost 10 percent when compared to a similar survey carried out in 2010.

Moreover, the survey from 2016 further revealed that voters of the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) and voters of the non-parliamentary Hungarian Community Party (SMK) are the least satisfied with the current state of democracy in Slovakia. “Conversely, voters of the [governing] Smer-SD party, voters of the [Opposition] We Are Family party and surprisingly also voters of the [strongest] Opposition Freedom and Solidarity party are more than satisfied with democracy in Slovakia,” said the sociologist.

The satisfaction rate considerably varies according to regions. “The most satisfied are people in Trencin region whereas those living in Kosice region are the least satisfied,” said Gyarfasova, adding that this survey partly confirmed the fact that the level of satisfaction with democracy is closely connected with peoples’ economic and social situation.

The sociologist also pointed out that people are losing the feeling that their vote in elections is meaningful. “The percentage of people who believe that it’s important who will receive their vote and that it makes democracy a living mechanism decreased from 46 percent in 2010 to 32 percent in 2016,” she said.