Honest elections matter to people everywhere

Honest elections matter because they give people a say in how their country is run. They help ensure that governments reflect the people's will and that policies respond to real needs.

It’s sometimes assumed that support for democracy and fair elections is limited to particular regions or cultures. However, data from the Integrated Values Surveys, which asks people across many countries how much honest elections matter to them, shows otherwise.

Across all the countries surveyed, large majorities said honest elections are important in their lives. Nearly everyone said so in Indonesia, South Korea, and the UK. Even in countries where experts judge elections as unfree or unfair — like Iran, Egypt, or Russia — around 80% to 90% still said they matter.

In some contexts, people may feel pressure to answer this question in a certain way, either downplaying or overstating the importance of elections. Still, the consistency of results across such different countries suggests the demand is real.

Explore more data on free and fair elections for all countries →

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Our World in Data. “Honest elections matter to people everywhere” by Simon van Teutem, Bastian Herre, Edouard Mathieu, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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