Global trust in democracy has declined.

Numerous studies in political science suggest that society is experiencing a "crisis of democracy," indicating a decline in trust towards key political institutions. This type of crisis has been proclaimed regularly in various formulations over the decades. However, empirical research has yielded differing results regarding whether this "erosion of trust" has actually occurred.

In a new study published in the British Journal of Political Science, researchers have settled this long-standing debate. In the largest and most comprehensive review of trends in political trust to date, political scientists compiled results from 3,377 surveys conducted in 143 countries from 1958 to 2019. Over five million respondents participated in these surveys.

The analysis revealed that while trust in representative institutions declined, trust in non-representative bodies—such as the police, civil service, and judiciary—remained stable or even increased. This indicates a specific crisis of trust in elected representatives.

Overall, trust in parliament in democratic countries decreased by approximately nine percentage points from 1990 to 2019, whereas trust in the police during the same period rose by about 13 points. Trust in parliament fell in 36 democratic countries, including Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, South Korea, and Australia, while it increased in only six countries.

In the United States, trust in the federal government has sharply declined over the past two decades. It is no coincidence that there is currently a significant assault on democratic institutions led by President Donald Trump, who was elected after promising, among other things, to review these institutions.

In the United Kingdom, there has been a gradual decline in trust in democracy over recent decades, although there was a brief recovery during the Brexit referendum. Trust in the legal system and police fell until the financial crisis of 2008 but has gradually increased since then.

In Latin America, political trust grew until around 2014, but has since plummeted. Conversely, there has been no significant decline in Asia and the Pacific region. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ecuador, and New Zealand have defied global trends by demonstrating an increase in trust towards representative bodies.

Regarding trends in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, trust in parliament has decreased in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Notably, trust in parliament has only increased in countries within this region that the authors classified as non-democratic: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia (since 2000), and Uzbekistan.

The researchers emphasized that the overall decline in trust in democracy is a "worrisome signal" that may prompt political leaders to adopt a more authoritarian style of governance.

Citizen support for their political systems—and thus the legitimacy of these systems—has weakened recently. While there is still evidence that citizens generally support the idea of democracy, many have lost faith in the institutions necessary for democratic governance. This leads some to vote for candidates who seem intent on dismantling democracy as it has existed thus far.