Polls of western countries find deep dissatisfaction with democracy

The State of Democracy survey found that across the nine countries polled, more people said democracy had got worse in the past five years than better. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Satisfaction with democracy is below 50% in eight out of nine western countries surveyed in a poll, and majorities in all but one fear for its future, with fake news, lack of political accountability, extremism and corruption seen as the biggest threats.

An Ipsos survey of almost 10,000 people in Croatia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US found satisfaction with democracy low in all except Sweden, with deep concerns about the future state of electoral politics.