Fewer Aussies 'whole-heartedly' satisfied with democracy, new research shows

The authors behind the study say while this is "far from a crisis", it is a concern, as confidence in government also continues to decline.

The paper, which uses data from ANUpoll surveys as well as the Asian Barometer and Australian Barometer, show that in 2008, 23.4 per cent of respondents were "very satisfied" with democracy in Australia, compared to 14.2 per cent in 2023.

At the same time, researchers did not find that most Australians were completely dissatisfied either.

Instead, they found more Australians were either not very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the state of democracy, describing the situation as a decline in "whole-hearted satisfaction with democracy".

Study co-author Nicholas Biddle said the results reflected global trends.

"If anything, falls in Australia are a bit less than we've seen in other countries so in some ways, there's aspects of the Australian system, which are kind of protecting us a little bit more so than other countries ... compulsory voting, the stability of a kind of a two-party system and other institutions," he said.

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The study found that place of birth, education and income levels had a significant impact on satisfaction-levels in democracy in Australia.

Respondents born in Australia were the least likely to the satisfied with democracy at 75.2 per cent, while those born overseas in English-speaking countries were were most likely to be satisfied with democracy at 81.6 per cent, compared to those in non-English speaking countries, at 80.8 per cent.

But it was education and income that were the biggest signifiers of whether someone might be satisfied with democracy.

An ANU poll found that the higher the income quintile, the more likely the respondent would be satisfied with democracy, with 65.9 percent of those in the lowest income quintile being satisfied compared to 86.7 of those in the highest income quintile.

Meanwhile, only 67.5 per cent of respondents who had not completed year 12 were satisfied with democracy, compared to 84 per cent of respondents who did have a degree.

This should be "a matter of significant concern", the authors stated.

Data from the Australian Barometer shows an increasing number of people, more than 60 percent of respondents in 2023, think Australia's income distribution is either very unfair or unfair, with researchers flagging this as a potential factor "driving dissatisfaction" with democracy in Australia.

"While the income distribution is reasonably stable ... people's perceptions of fairness in the income distribution are shifting a little bit," Prof Biddle said.

"And if people see that governments aren't structuring a system whereby the economic outcomes aren't shared evenly, then people are going to be less likely to support the system as a whole."

The study cites "confidence and trust in key institutions" as being "essential to binding a democratic society together", noting that evidence shows this has been on the decline.

Researchers found public confidence in the government saw a substantial boost during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic but started falling again by the end of that year.

A boost was also recorded following a change of government in 2022, with 35.6 per cent of Australians having quite a lot or a great deal of confidence in the federal government in April, before to the election, compared to to 52.9 per cent in August following the election.

But this has also declined during 2023, falling to 43.6 per cent in August.

"This is something which we as a society should be concerned about and reflects a longer-term change that is consistent with the experience in many other countries," study co-author Matthew Gray said.

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