Citizen support for democracy in Australia
Australia: Citizen support for democracy was 0.793 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen support for democracy in Australia, 1995–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Australia stood at 0.793.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 21.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Australia peaked at 1.19 in 2004 and was at its lowest, 0.7926, in 2019.
That places Australia 23rd out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.09 | 1.06 | 1.12 | 5 |
| 2000s | 1.13 | 1.04 | 1.19 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8965 | 0.7926 | 1.01 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.793 | 0.793 | 0.793 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More social development data for Australia
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 33,415 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 41 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.844 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.915 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.876 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.844 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.648 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.793 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Australia?
- Citizen support for democracy in Australia was 0.793 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.19 in 2004.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7926 in 2019.
- How does Australia rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Australia ranks 23rd out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 21.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.