According to a recent Pew survey released on February 28, India has emerged as a frontrunner in endorsing autocracy and military rule among the countries surveyed.
The report, titled "Representative Democracy Remains A Popular Ideal, but People Around the World Are Critical of How It’s Working," queried respondents in 24 nations about various forms of governance, including representative democracy, direct democracy, autocracy, technocracy, and military rule.
The survey revealed that 67% of Indians express support for autocracy, a significant increase from 55% reported in 2017. This figure surpasses other surveyed nations, with Kenya at 52% and Indonesia at 51%.
In terms of military rule, India also leads with 72% of respondents favoring it, marking the highest support among all nations surveyed. However, in over half of the countries surveyed, majorities view military rule unfavorably.
The survey indicated a broad opposition to autocracy from most surveyed countries, including the US (26%), Canada (19%), and the UK (13%).
Moreover, countries with a higher GDP per capita tend to have fewer supporters of rule by a strong leader, the survey noted.
The report also highlighted that individuals with lower incomes are more inclined to support the idea of an unchecked strong leader, while those with less education are more likely to view autocracy favorably compared to their more educated counterparts.
Since 2017, the survey noted a rise in support for technocracy in most of the countries surveyed. In India, support for technocracy surged to 82% in 2023 from 65% in 2017, possibly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the reliance on scientific and medical expertise to manage the crisis.
Regarding elected officials' responsiveness to public opinion, only 55% of Indians surveyed believed that elected officials care about people like them. This sentiment was notably higher in Sweden, where a majority (56%) believed that elected officials do care about people like them.
Furthermore, 68% of Indians surveyed expressed belief that policies in their country would improve if more elected officials were women, indicating strong support for gender representation in politics. This sentiment aligns with India's recent legislative move to introduce a gender quota, with the passage of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to provide 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
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