Low Satisfaction with Democracy in Austria
According to a survey called Democracy Radar by the Austrian Democracy Lab (ADL) of Danube University Krems and the University of Graz, Austrians' satisfaction with their democracy remains low. According to the ADL, only 61 percent of respondents believe that democracy in Austria functions very well or rather well.
According to the latest Democracy Radar of the Austrian Democracy Lab (ADL), Austrians' satisfaction with their democracy is low. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Gryffindor, CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
Only 61 percent of those surveyed believe that domestic democracy functions very well or rather well. According to the Austrian Democracy Lab, 37 percent believe it functions rather or very poorly. According to the survey, satisfaction with democracy in Austria is stagnating at a low level, slightly above the previous low point of the Democracy Radar measurements from fall 2020, when only 60 percent were satisfied.
According to the Democracy Radar, there is no difference between men and women in satisfaction with the functioning of democracy in Austria. However, the assessments do differ between age groups. According to the ADL, people aged 60 and older 60 and older are very satisfied, while younger people between 30 and 44 are very dissatisfied with democracy. dissatisfied with democracy. People without a high school diploma are just as dissatisfied.
According to the Democracy Radar, the Austrian population believes that democracy in Austria will develop increasingly worse. The proportion of people who see a positive development has almost halved in the last two years, according to the survey and only 22 percent of all respondents expect a favorable future. According to Democracy Radar about 40 percent are also not satisfied with their economic situation, about 8 percentage points more than in the last survey in autumn 2021. Just over half also emphasize that they have it increasingly difficult in Austria.
"Many are dissatisfied with the way democracy is lived in Austria," ADL project manager Katrin Praprotnik of the University of Graz was quoted as saying in press releases. The desire for structural renewal in the political system has solidified, interpreted ADL project manager Christina Hainzl of the University of Continuing Education Krems.
However, approval of democracy as the best form of government had remained stable, with 87 percent of respondents rating it as better than any other form of government despite problems, according to the ADL.
The Democracy Radar is a biannual study conducted by the University of Continuing Education Krems and the University of Graz in cooperation with Forum Morgen. It is based on a survey of around 4,500 people aged 14 and over in Austria. However, the small number of respondents raises the question of representativeness.