Democracy is in the doldrums these days. The Brits are going through prime ministers at a record pace and the Americans are seeing their democratic norms threatened from the top. Throughout Europe right-wing extremists steadily gain in popularity.

The Pew Research Center recently took a peek at just how satisfied people in a number of leading countries are with their democracies, including those above. See the graph to the right.

The happiest campers are—no surprise here—the Swedes. In the Pew survey of 16 countries, the Swedes are almost in a league of their own with 76 percent satisfied with their democracy. No one else came close. The Scandinavians seem to know how to make democracy work better than the rest of us.

It comes as no surprise either that our neighbours, the Americans, are not at all happy, second from the bottom of the list with only 30 percent satisfied.

One might observe that any people who would elect Donald Trump as their president deserve to be unhappy. Almost 90 percent of Democratic supporters are dissatisfied, but so are almost half of Republican supporters, many now suffering buyer’s remorse one suspects. What were they thinking?

Despite democracy’s woes, some countries have seen distinct rises in their people’s satisfaction with their systems. South Korea, for example, has seen the level of satisfaction increase from a low 28 percent to 61 percent over the past year.

This no doubt reflects the fact that their democracy proved itself. When former president Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to reinforce his power by declaring martial law, he was overruled by the National Assembly. He was subsequently impeached, arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Perhaps there is a lesson here for the Americans and their constitution-denying president.

Satisfaction with democracy in Japan also increased markedly over the year although still fewer than half are satisfied. This improvement also showed a democracy working, with a scandal-tainted prime minister resigning and being replaced by the country’s first woman PM, Sanae Takaichi. Women’s satisfaction with the system increased to that of men with the election of Takaichi.

And how about we Canadians? Well, we are mostly satisfied (56 percent), fourth in the list behind Sweden, South Korea and Germany. One wonders about the 43 percent who are dissatisfied. This would no doubt include the separatists, but many may also see room for improvement.

I, for instance, frequently harp on how the system would be greatly improved with the adoption of a proportional representation voting system. Parties would be accurately represented in the House of Commons as they so often are not now. The House would accurately represent the will of the people. And we wouldn’t have to engage in strategic voting, e.g. voting Liberal just to keep the Conservatives out as many did in 2025.

Nonetheless a solid 56 percent of satisfaction is encouraging to see in these somewhat turbulent times. The election of Mark Carney, an exceptionally gifted politician, no doubt reassured many that the system still works.