In Spain, 26% of young men prefer authoritarianism to democracy ‘in some circumstances’

Support for democracy is declining among Spain’s young adults. One in four men (25.9%) aged between 18 and 26, known as Generation Z, believes that “in some circumstances” authoritarianism may be preferable to the democratic system, compared with 18.3% of women. In the next generation up, the millennials (who are between 27 and 42 years old) there is a wider gap: 22.9% of men see an authoritarian regime as acceptable, compared to 12.7% of women.

These views are captured by the latest 40dB survey for EL PAÍS and SER radio network, “The democratic disorder in Spain,” which offers an extensive x-ray of the public perception of the current political situation, and shows that a pessimistic view prevails. Most Spaniards believe that democracy is not working well, that it is deteriorating, and only half feel represented by a political party. In addition, society is predominantly against a greater participation of immigrants in politics.

Among the general population, only one in eight (12.6%) would opt for an authoritarian regime over a democratic one, although the percentage is higher among voters of far-right parties: 24% among Vox voters and 21.3% among supporters of Se acaba la Fiesta (The Party’s Over), Alvise Pérez’s party, which stormed into the European elections in June, winning three seats.

When it comes to evaluating the functioning of Spanish democracy, 33.3% of voters have a negative opinion, compared to 25.7% who have a positive view, although 38.6% rate it as “average.” The most critical are the voters of Se Acabó la Fiesta (70.5%) and the most optimistic are those of the Socialist Party (PSOE): only 7.3% believe that it is going badly or very badly.

The survey shows that 68.5% of the population considers that democracy in Spain is deteriorating, and that it is doing so to a greater extent than in Europe (57.8%) and the rest of the world (65.9%). In 51.8% of cases, Spaniards point to corruption as the main problem of democracy, followed by the failure of politicians to keep their promises (35.1%) and the lack of equality before the law (29.6%). Nationalist and pro-independence movements are in fifth place (22.4%) of concerns and in ninth place is political activism by judges (16.9%). The lack of independence of the media and the publication of false information about politics are not among the top 10. These last issues have taken up a large part of the package of measures on democratic regeneration presented by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in parliament, which will be negotiated with the political groups with congressional representation in the coming months.

In another section of the poll, a majority of respondents (56.2%) say they come across fake news at least once a week, with social media being the channel where they perceive it the most (56.9%), followed by television (34.3%), influencers or YouTubers (25.2%), digital-only newspapers (18.4%) and newspapers with both a web and paper edition (16.8%). Only 6.8% say they come across fake news on the radio, 3.8% in podcasts, and 2.9% in magazines.

Immigration

In a particularly tense summer for the immigration debate, with a strong polarization in the political arena, the poll also reflects a widespread rejection by Spaniards of the participation of immigrants in politics: 36.2% believe that things would get worse if a greater number of people from another country took an active role in it, while only the voters of the leftist parties Sumar and Podemos believe that it would improve. In general, left-wing voters consider it positive to have greater political participation by underrepresented groups. Those on the right, however, only see the inclusion of more women, young people and private sector workers as beneficial and are more opposed to the participation of immigrants. Among members of Gen Z, there is a tremendous gap in opinion regarding the greater political participation of women and members of the LGBTQI+ community. While women in this age group believe politics would benefit, men believe it would deteriorate.

At a time of disaffection with politics, only 51.2% of citizens surveyed feel that there is at least one party that represents them, and only 14.1% say that most politicians care about what ordinary people think, with PSOE voters being those who most believe that politicians take their opinions into account.

Political tension

Almost nine out of 10 citizens (86.6%) consider that the political debate is very or quite tense. The older generations, ages 59 and up, are those who perceive this situation to a greater degree. National political leaders appear to be those who are contributing the most to the deterioration of the public debate. Those surveyed think this way in 41.3% of the cases, while in 30% they assign the blame to politicians, citizens, and the media.

Also of note is the fact that only 30.7% of citizens feel that the European Union’s actions have a positive influence on the functioning of democracy.

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