Eidos/AtlasIntel poll in Romania: dysfunctional democracy may open the door to opportunistic parties

Results of the Romanian survey carried out by Eidos Foundation, along with the international public opinion polling company AtlasIntel, reveal that although Romanians support democracy as a form of government (79%), they are unsatisfied with how it functions (72%).

“Under these circumstances, the risks related to democratic erosion are increasing, as opportunistic political actors will inherently attempt to capitalize on the general disappointment of the population with populist and radical platforms that may well threaten the achievements of the past two decades,” according to Andrei Roman, the founder of AtlasIntel.

According to the poll, the vast majority of Romanians believe that corruption is the biggest threat to democracy in Romania, but nearly a quart of them sees globalization as a threat to democracy as well.

Corruption (80%), local oligarchic interests (34%), lack of education (33%), and globalization (26%) are perceived as the main threats to democracy in Romania, and the existing controls to prevent abuses of power are not considered effective by more than half of the respondents.

(Photo source: Andrii Yalanskyi | Dreamstime.com)