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Democracy and distrust | 107
in their government, while a large majority reported ‘somewhat trusting
institutions (PEW 2017, 13, 16).
Finally, the PRC report also informed that the support for the non¬
representative form of popular government - direct democracy - was relatively
high in Europe. While the support for the idea of representative democracy
remained solid, Europeans supported direct democracy almost at an equal
level, an average of 70 per cent (Pew 2017, 22). In contrast, they expressed
a much weaker support for technocracy: 54 per cent called it wrong, while
only 43 per cent supported it (Pew 2017, 25).!
Another research, conducted two years later, showed no major changes, but
the shift was still clear: more people were less satisfied with the functioning
of democracy than previously. Though the picture was mixed, the above¬
mentioned pattern of the interrelation between economic performance and
support for democracy remains valid: a better welfare situation leads to
stronger democratic support.
However, as the report says, “one factor that corresponds with democratic
dissatisfaction and unites most EU nations - as well as the U.S., Russia
and Ukraine - is a shared sense that elected officials do not care about
their constituents” (PEW 2019, 46). This can be understood as a kind of
disillusionment with representative politics, but again, we have to divide the
practice from the idea, because “individuals may be strong believers in liberal
democracy and yet dissatisfied with the performance of such institutions in
practice” (GSDR 2020, 4).
While Europeans feel that they are hardly represented by their representatives,
this does not mean that they do not see the merits of elections. In fact, they say
that elections give them voice in shaping their future, and “some say in how
government runs things” (PEW 2019, 50).* This report also found that the
majority of them had a favourable opinion about the EU, among the youth in
particular. Regarding the political trends of the late 2010s, when “Eurosceptic
parties have gained political momentum and British voters passed the 2016
referendum to leave the EU”, this support seems to be crucial and promising
for the future of the Union (PEW 2019, 53).
Finally, the Global Satisfaction with Democracy Report 2020 also shows
a complex picture: “Europe's average level of satisfaction masks a large and
growing divide within the continent, between a “zone of despair” across France
* Interestingly, the support for technocracy as a form of government where “experts, not
elected officials, make decisions according to what they think is best for the country” was
the highest in Hungary (68%) and Poland (50%), and also the refusal of this idea was the
lowest in the same countries (23 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively, compared to the
European average of 54 per cent; PEW 2017, 25). Taking into account that all these data
come from the same research, we can conclude that supporting representative democracy,
direct democracy, and also technocracy are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as the same
respondent can support all these forms at the same time.
Interestingly, again: this number is even higher in Russia than in Hungary, 54 per cent and
51 per cent, respectively.