SWS: 7 of 10 Pinoys say democracy working

MANILA, Philippines - Nearly seven in 10 Filipinos are satisfied with the way democracy works in the country, according to a latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS September poll showed 69 percent of Filipinos expressing satisfaction with the way democracy is working in the Philippines, up by a point from 68 percent in June.

SWS said the new score was just shy of the 70 percent mark hit in July 1998 and October 1992 during the administrations of former presidents Joseph Estrada and Fidel Ramos, respectively.

The SWS said that from October 1999 to June 2009, the indicator exceeded 50 percent only three times.

SWS said satisfaction with the way democracy works in the country was a “disappointing 44 percent” during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Nearly six in 10 respondents or 56 percent, meanwhile, said democracy is always preferable to any other kind of government, the survey said.

Twenty seven percent said that “under some circumstances, an authoritarian government can be preferable” while 16 percent said “it does not matter whether we have a democratic or a non-democratic regime.”

SWS said public preferences for democracy and authoritarianism increased; the latter is actually a new record, surpassing the 26 percent peak in March 2006.

“Public preference between democracy and authoritarianism is a different issue from the degree of satisfaction with how democracy works, and is probed by a separate question,” the survey institute said.

SWS said the latest preference for democracy is similar to levels of 2002-2005 and 2007 when it ranged from 52-64 percent, and is also an improvement from the 49 percent recorded in September 2006 and June 2008.

The preference for authoritarianism, meanwhile, is also higher than the 2007-2009 range of 15-23 percent, the SWS said.

The proportion of those who were indifferent was down from the 2006-2009 range of 25-28 percent, it said.

Results of the SWS poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.