Wednesday 31 December 2008

Peru: Majority Value Democracy

According to the results of a survey mentioned by El Comercio, the majority of Peruvians consider a democracy the best form of government. It's not a huge majority though.

The article reports that 56% of Peruvians prefer democracy to any other form of government, 22% don't prefer any particular type of government, 19% think that an authoritarian government or a dictatorship is sometimes preferable to a democratic government, and 3% aren't sure.

One of the academics involved in the survey, Carmen Rosa Balbi from the Catholic University (PUCP), believes that "this poll shows that we are living in a time where the majority values democracy, but there is also a good percentage of Peruvians who hope that democracy will bring them quality of life, and not just freedom of expression and the right to vote". She adds, "If there is no quality of life, people will ask themselves what democracy is doing for them." (All trans mine).

Pese a todo, los peruanos valoran y prefieren vivir en democracia (El Comercio)

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