More Ugandans say they prefer democracy over any other system, but fewer are satisfied with the way their democracy is actually working, a new Afrobarometer survey shows.
Popular preference for democracy has been remarkably cyclical, rising before and falling after presidential elections. But satisfaction has been on a 17-year slide.
Data show that this satisfaction gap (between the proportion of citizens who prefer democracy and those who are satisfied) is strongly and negatively related with the perceived quality of elections as well as public views on how well the government has performed on economic and political indicators. These findings suggest a dampening effect on popular support for democracy and perhaps vindicate the public call for better service delivery and for reforms to improve the quality of Uganda’s elections.
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