Since the early 1990s, when we started researching attitudes towards democracy, the prevailing belief holds it to be the best form of government. Currently, more than seven in ten respondents agree with the statement that democracy has an advantage over all other forms of government (72% compared to 17% who disapprove of it), which is 8 points less than a year ago. This decline should not be associated with some kind of doubt in democracy. It is a correction of the record result registered after last year's parliamentary elections, which mobilized Poles to vote to an unprecedented degree. Moreover, taking into account the entire history of our research, this is still a result that indicates very high support for democracy.

Do you agree that democracy is superior to all other forms of government?

The current level of acceptance of non-democratic government is one of the lowest in the history of our surveys. A quarter of respondents currently agree that in some situations non-democratic governments are better than democratic ones (25%, an increase of 2 percentage points since the previous survey), while almost six in ten (56%, a decrease of 6 points) disagree. Opposition to non-democratic governments intensified after the parliamentary elections in 2015 and has remained at a higher level than before.

Do you agree that undemocratic government can sometimes be better than democratic?

A month after last year's parliamentary elections, opinions about the quality of democracy in our country were better than ever before, since 1993. Such sentiments were largely shaped by a sense of agency: thanks to the participation of a significant number of Poles in the elections, the balance of power in parliament and, consequently, the government changed. This is the most tangible and socially satisfying aspect of democracy's operation. However, such a state of political mobilization is by its nature temporary. Currently, assessments of the functioning of democracy are therefore worse than a year ago, and at the same time very divided. Almost half express satisfaction with its functioning (46%, a decrease of 9 percentage points), and slightly fewer people (44%, an increase of 6 points) are dissatisfied.

Evaluation of functioning of democracy in Poland