Irish belief in democracy plunges in recession
People’s faith in the system appeared to take a major hit as a result of the economic crisis and the decisions taken by the then government to bail-in the Irish taxpayers to pay off bank debts.
One of the authors of the report, Jonathan Birdwell, described the change in attitude as “concerning”, and said it reflected a belief that politics was helpless in the face of the crisis.
“The Irish attitude to the system of democracy used to be the EU average, but then around 2008 it dropped to the bottom quintile of countries,” said Mr Birdwell. “That kind of drop is significant. It should be noted and should raise flags.”
The Irish were the fifth most disenchanted in the EU with democracy, with the figures halving between 1999 and 2008. At the same time, Irish people claimed to be more satisfied with democracy in 2008 than they were in 1999.
The Irish also tended to believe it was good to have a strong leader that does not take too much account of what parliament says.
The number of Irish who appear to favour this kind of leadership grew between 1999 and 2008. At the same time, fewer Irish people viewed army rule as bad for a country compared to the vast majority of other countries.
Danes and Germans were the most scared of this type of rule, while Ireland was the sixth least adverse. Romania and Latvia were the most in favour of having a strong leader rather than rule by parliament majority, while the most averse was Greece.
Mr Birdwell said the deep distrust of dictatorship most likely reflected Greece’s experience of being ruled by the army, while citizens of former communist states such as Latvia and Romania are probably reflecting a nostalgia for times past.
The report, the first index to measure democracy specific to the EU, also measured tolerance in the countries and named Ireland as a “backslider” when it comes to attitudes to gypsies — Roma and Travellers.
Asked if they would live beside them, Ireland was the fifth most tolerant in 1999 but has now slid to 20th. Attitudes towards immigrants improved.
There was also a drop in such tolerance towards Muslims — something that was reflected in most countries as a reaction to the war on terror and the events of 9/11 in the US.
On the other side, civil society is very healthy in Ireland with more people involved in society and the highest level of volunteerism in the EU.
Dr Theresa Reidy, who lectures in government in UCC, said the report confirmed the general trend in Ireland where trust in politicians and the political system is quite low.
“The question is how far can support for the political system be maintained if significant numbers question it on a sustained basis before the foundations become shaky? Democracy is working in Ireland for the vast majority. I would not predict political instability on the basis of this, but the countries most severely affected by the crisis are beginning to question their political system much more than countries not affected.”
Some of the key findings of the report, part funded by the Socialist group in the European Parliament, were:
- Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania were the worst performers;
- France was criticised for controversial policies on religious freedom;
- Italy continues to face problems with corruption, organised crime, and media ownership;
- Europe has become less tolerant towards minority groups;
- Britain performs particularly poorly (21st of 26) for social capital and satisfaction with democracy.
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