Americans are more dissatisfied with how their democracy is working than people in other high-income countries

About 69% of U.S. adults say they are dissatisfied with how democracy is working, a higher share than in most other high-income nations surveyed, according to a Pew Research Center report released this week [1]. The survey, conducted across 16 countries, found a median of 54% of adults are dissatisfied with their democracy, while 45% are satisfied [1]. Dissatisfaction in the U.S. is sharply partisan: 86% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents express dissatisfaction, compared with 51% of Republicans and GOP leaners [1]. The U.S. political system operates as a constitutional federal republic with a presidential system, where power is divided among executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and officials are elected at federal, state, and local levels [2]. U.S. satisfaction with democracy fell from 37% in 2025 to 30% in 2026, a decline driven largely by Republicans, whose satisfaction dropped from 60% to 48% over the same period [1]. The 2024 presidential election, in which former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, saw voters cite the state of democracy as a motivating issue alongside the economy and immigration [4]. Across the surveyed nations, satisfaction levels shifted notably in two countries. In South Korea, satisfaction more than doubled from 28% in 2025 to 61% in 2026 following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and the election of former opposition leader Lee Jae Myung [1]. In Japan, satisfaction rose from 24% to 44% after Sanae Takaichi became the country's first female prime minister and her party won snap elections in a landslide [1]. The gender gap in Japanese satisfaction with democracy disappeared after Takaichi took office [1]. Australia moved in the opposite direction, with satisfaction dropping from 61% to 51% as the share of Australians describing economic conditions as good fell from 37% to 20% [1]. Australia and Japan, both parliamentary constitutional monarchies and close U.S. allies, maintain a bilateral relationship anchored by trade and security cooperation [11]. In the U.S., 68% of adults say American democracy used to be a good example for other countries but has not been in recent years [1]. The Pew data places the U.S. near the top of the dissatisfaction ranking, tied with France at 69% and behind only Greece at 77% [1].