After President Donald Trump got his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed and signed into law the second, new research from the Pew Research Center reveals that dissatisfaction with democracy remains widespread around the globe. However, in the United States, Republican satisfaction with the democratic system has significantly increased following Trump’s return to the presidency in 2024.
In the U.S., views on democracy reflect political power
According to Pew’s June 30, 2025 global report, overall satisfaction with democracy remains low across 23 surveyed countries — with a median of just 42% satisfied and 58% dissatisfied. Yet the United States is one of the few countries where satisfaction rose over the past year, largely driven by the Republican Party’s 2024 electoral victories.
After securing the presidency, a Senate majority, and retaining control of the House, Republican voters report renewed faith in how democracy is functioning. In contrast, Democratic voters’ satisfaction has dropped sharply.
This partisan divide is not unique to the U.S. Pew found similar trends in other countries with recent elections, where satisfaction often increases among supporters of victorious parties — including Labour voters in the United Kingdom and CDU/CSU supporters in Germany.
How Trump won in 2024: Voter behavior shifts
A separate Pew report, released June 26, 2025, offers a detailed breakdown of the voting behavior that led to Trump’s 2024 victory over Kamala Harris by 1.5 percentage points.
Key findings from Pew’s American Trends Panel:
- Trump held onto 85% of his 2020 voters.
- 5% of Biden’s 2020 voters switched to Trump.
- 15% of Biden’s voters dropped off and did not vote in 2024, compared to 11% of Trump’s.
- New and returning voters, including young voters and those who sat out in 2020, favored Trump by a modest margin.
These relatively small shifts in voter turnout and switching behavior proved decisive in reversing the 2020 outcome, when Biden had won by 4.4 percentage points.
A broader crisis of confidence in democracy
While Trump’s political resurgence has energized many of his supporters, Pew’s international data reveals persistent disillusionment with democracy worldwide.
Across the 23 nations surveyed:
- A majority in 16 countries said they were dissatisfied with the way their democracy is working.
- In countries like Greece, France, Italy, and South Korea, dissatisfaction rates are particularly high.
- Even in countries with traditionally stable democratic institutions, such as Japan and Germany, satisfaction remains fragile.
Economic perceptions play a major role. Nations with more positive views of their economy — including Sweden, India, and Mexico — report higher satisfaction with democracy. In contrast, countries with economic pessimism tend to have more negative assessments of their political systems.
What this means moving forward
The contrasting sentiments in the United States — rising satisfaction among conservatives, falling confidence among liberals — underscore the increasingly polarized nature of democratic engagement.
Globally, the Pew reports suggest that while most people still believe in the idea of representative democracy, faith in its function is eroding. As President Trump continues his second term, and as other nations prepare for pivotal elections, the question remains: Can democratic systems restore broader public trust?
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