53% Indians support military rule, 55% autocracy, one the highest among 38 countries surveyed: Pew

Average trend of 38 countries

By Jag Jivan*
A dangerous trend appears to have overtaken India. In a survey carried out by one of the world's most well-known US-based research institutes, Pew, as many as 55% Indians support an autocratic rule, which is the highest among the 38 countries from which samples were collected by interviewing 41,953 individuals, telephonically and face-to-face.
The countries which come next to India in their support to autocratic rule are also from Asia --52% are Indonesians and 50% are Filipinos. Comments Pew in its research finding, "Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy", "Such support is particularly intense in India, where 27% very strongly back a strong leader."

Worse, the survey results show that 53% Indians support a military rule, which is higher than all other countries except for two -- Vietnam (70%) and Indonesia (68%). Pew comments, "Notably, roughly half of both Indians (53%) and South Africans (52%), who live in nations that often hold themselves up as democratic exemplars for their regions, say military rule would be a good thing for their countries."
Surveyed from from February 16 to May 8, 2017, Pew, however, also observes, in these two countries, "Older people (those ages 50 and older) are the least supportive of the army running the country, and they are the ones who either personally experienced the struggle to establish democratic rule or are the immediate descendants of those immediate descendants of those democratic pioneers."
Across the world, says Pew, a quarter or more people of 20 countries support "unconstrained executive power", insisting, "Those polled think a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts is a good form of government.This type of regime is particularly popular in several nations where executives have extended or consolidated their power in recent years."

"While military rule is the least popular political system tested on the survey, even this finds some support across the globe. Notable minorities in many nations consider it a good way to govern, and half or more express this view in Vietnam, Indonesia, India and South Africa", the survey regrets.
Ironically, Pew believes, "The status of the economy is strongly related to people’s trust in their government. Publics that have experienced a higher level of economic growth over the past five years tend to have more confidence in their national government to do the right thing for their country."

It adds, "For example, in India, where the economy has grown on average by 6.9% since 2012, 85% trust their national government. Meanwhile, just 26% of Italians have confidence in their government; their economy has contracted over the past five years (-0.5% average GDP growth)."
However, globally, says Pew, "Rule by a strong leader is generally unpopular, though minorities of a substantial size back it. A global median of 26% say a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts would be a good way of governing. Roughly seven-in-ten (71%) say it would be a bad type of governance."
It adds, "Opposition is particularly widespread in Europe (a median of 86% oppose rule by a strong leader), with strong opposition in Germany (93%), Sweden (90%) and the Netherlands (89%), even though "autocracy is not universally opposed", with "roughly four-in-ten Italians (43%) have a favorable view of Forza Italia, the political party founded by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and a similar share of the British (42%) who favor UKIP say a strong leader making decisions would be good for their country."

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*Freelance writer

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