Are European youth losing faith in democracy? Hard to say because the Definitions Section is oddly missing.
Is democracy in Europe losing support?
Data from numerous surveys show that consistent support for democracy across Europe is already quite low. And if demography is destiny, it looks like public support for democracy will continue to fall, with Europe possibly reaching an inflection point where nondemocratic forms of government not only take root but flourish.
How do we know this?
According to the Open Society Foundation’s 2023 global poll, which Comms Hub advised on and analyzed in Europe, only 38 percent of Germans aged 18 and up are consistent supporters of democracy. In France, the number stands at a paltry 27 percent, while Italy and Poland clock in at less than 45 percent.
Will the youth view remain that way as they age? That's the worry:
Demography need not be destiny, but without a greater understanding of the problem, democratic decline is a very probable outcome. The question is, what can be done to bolster support for democracy among Europe’s youth before it’s too late?
Oddly, in a story about European demographics, there is no mention of the disproportionate share of Moslem immigrants of both the legal and illegal kind in Europe. Maybe a closer look at the demographics would be revealing.
I mean, if you want to discuss attitudes of the younger demographic, maybe the attitudes of people without the social norms of rule-of-law democracy would be important to note. Which also might explain at least some of the rise of anti-democratic opinions of native Europeans who see elected leaders refusing to discuss this aspect of demographics. And who try to shame and vilify those native Europeans for even worrying about the adverse effects of that trend.
Or maybe demographics is a minor factor as Europeans simply slip back to autocratic norms without robust American leadership:
I had to be reminded by this author that our long period of influence in Europe during the Cold War had a role in making Europe truly democratic:
It is easy to forget--and this was a useful reminder to me--that Europe with its autocracies and monarchies was not fully part of a free West (although obviously part of the Western tradition) until we rebuilt Western Europe in that template after World War II. And NATO expansion after defeating the Soviet Union was more explicit in demanding democracy and rule of law for new members.
Of course, since I wrote that Russia invaded Ukraine and American leadership has revived. But Europeans of the EU variety still fret about American leadership.
Of course they do. Their roots are in nondemocratic norms.
NOTE: The image was made from DALL-E.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.