According to a new survey on March 31, most people in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and its main allies, want to change their political systems after the devastating blow of the coronavirus epidemic. According to the results of the Pew Research Center on the 31st, according to the data collected in November and December last year, about 93% of French and Americans, about 88% of Britons and Germans want some change in their political system.
“Significant” rather than “small” changes
According to the survey, more than half of the people in France and the United States want to change hope to take major action. 47% of people in both countries called for “significant change”, and another 21% of France and 18% of Americans believe that “it needs to be completely changed”. There are also nearly half of Britons who want to make major or radical changes, rather than “small changes” or “complete changes”. So far, “totally unchanged” is the least favorite choice for respondents in four countries.
The report released with the results of the survey said at the beginning: “Many people in the United States and Western Europe are struggling with public health crises and persistent economic challenges, while the political situation in their countries is also disappointing.”
The authors of the report then noted that “there are significant differences in the political systems of these countries … but these four countries also have some of the same important democratic principles, and have experienced political turmoil in different ways recently.”
The American people are particularly radical.
In this poll, Americans expressed particularly cynical views on the political system.
Among the people surveyed, only the American people overwhelmingly (slightly more than two-thirds) thought that the vast majority of politicians in their country were corrupt. When asked if “elected officials care about the idea of ordinary people” are in line with their own situation, 56% of Americans said they did not, second only to France’s 58%.
Of the four countries, the United States is the only country with more than half of its dissatisfaction with its own democracy. When asked about “being satisfied with the way democracy works in their own country,” nearly a third said they were “not very satisfied” and nearly a quarter said they were “not satisfied at all.”
Evaluation of the impact of epidemic response
In three European countries, there are significant differences in people who are critical of their own epidemic response and those who are praiseful about their own epidemic response. In France, Germany or the United Kingdom, most of those who think that the country’s performance during the epidemic is “poor” are dissatisfied with their own democracy, while those who think that the government is “good” in the response to the epidemic is the opposite.
But in the United States, the attitudes of the two groups are almost different. Whether they think the country’s response to the epidemic is appropriate or the country’s response to the epidemic is not effective, they are not more than half satisfied with American democracy.
“Citizen Assembly” is welcomed
According to the survey, respondents in the United States are also the most supportive group for the establishment of “citizen conventions”. In such a civic convention, “citizens debate and make recommendations on national laws” and allow “on certain important topics, it is up to citizens — not members of the national legislature — to vote directly to decide what is the law”.
Both ideas are popular among most respondents in all four countries, but the United States has the highest number of supporters: 79% support the Civic Assembly.
France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States have begun to vaccinate widely against the novel coronavirus, showing hope for a return to relative normalcy. However, as the four governments try to appease the people who have not yet recovered from a year-long turmoil, economic difficulties, social problems and political instability still pose a serious threat to the stability of the four countries.
