Social Media Seen as Mostly Good for Democracy Across Many Nations, But U.S. is a Major Outlier
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.
More than eight-in-ten adults in Hong Kong and Taiwan say democracy is a good way to govern.
We asked over 30,000 people what would help democracy work better in their country. Key themes in their responses were addressing basic needs and improving or rebuilding the political system.
Amid growing discontent with the state of democracy globally, we asked over 30,000 people what changes would make their democracy work better.
A 24-country survey finds a median of 59% are dissatisfied with how their democracy is functioning, and 74% think elected officials don’t care what people like them think.
Across 27 countries surveyed, people generally see social media as more of a good thing than a bad thing for democracy.
47% of Americans favor banning groups from collecting completed ballots to return to official voting centers, while 50% oppose this. The public is also divided over removing people from voter registration lists if they have not voted recently or confirmed their registration, with slightly more opposing this (55%) than supporting it (44%).
Untethered from partisan politics and uninterested in keeping up with political news, here is how some Americans view the current state of U.S. politics.
Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.
74% of Republicans say social media has been more of a bad thing for U.S. democracy, compared with a smaller majority of Democrats (57%).
Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but they also say it informs and raises awareness.