Survey: More Than Half of Slovaks Believe Democracy is in Danger

Bratislava, November 15 (TASR) - More than half of Slovaks (57 percent) believe that democracy in Slovakia is in peril, jeopardized in particular by corruption and politicians of low quality and even 35 years after the Velvet Revolution the majority of society prefers democracy over an authoritarian regime, according to an online survey conducted by NMS Market Research Slovakia agency. A total of 36 percent of respondents prefer democracy, whereas an additional 25 percent accept it with some reservations and only 15 percent see things otherwise and would prefer authoritarian rule. About 25 percent has no opinion on the matter or didn't wish to speak their mind. It's the younger generations in particular who expressed staunch support for democracy. The higher age groups consider it a better form of governance too, but the percentage of those preferring authoritarian rule rises with increasing age. "People in general have a tendency to idealize the past [of the totalitarian communist regime] and link it with positive memories. The older people might be disappointed and under the impression that the current state of affairs in society is not what they were fighting for. This impression might be intensified also by the fact that the older generations have been affected harder by economic changes and the uncertainty, and it is the authoritarian rule with a decisive leader at the helm that helps them minimise that uncertainty," stated survey co-author Denisa Lakatosova. As for threats to democracy, it's predominantly the younger generations, people with university education, inhabitants of the Bratislava region and the largest Slovak cities who fear that democracy in Slovakia might be in danger. The perception that democracy in is jeopardy is held mostly by voters of opposition parties, whereas voters of coalition Smer-SD and SNS don't consider democracy as being at risk. Voters of the coalition Voice-SD party, however, are not unequivocally leaning in any direction: half of them think that democracy is in danger, whereas the other half think otherwise. The survey was conducted in November 7-11 on a sample of 1,000 respondents aged older than 18. mf/mcs