Greeks are supremely dissatisfied with the current state of national democracy | Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP via Getty Images Discontent with democracy linked to views on EU, immigration, economy: poll Europe has ‘divided views on the state of democracy,’ according to the research.

Southern Europeans are less content than those in the north with the state of democracy in their countries, according to a new survey.

While 69 percent of Swedes and 64 percent of Dutch are satisfied with the current state of democracy at home, large majorities in Italy (70 percent), Spain (81 percent) and Greece (84 percent) feel the opposite, the study conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found.

Across 10 EU countries included in the study — which was conducted last summer — the median score was 52 percent for "not satisfied" and 47 percent for "satisfied" with the state of democracy, with a general shift to dissatisfaction between 2017 and 2018.

"In Europe, discontent with how democracy is working is tied to views about the European Union, whether immigrants are adopting national customs, and attitudes toward populist parties," the authors of the study published Monday concluded.

"Europeans who have a negative view of the EU tend to be more dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in their countries than those who have a positive view of the EU," they added.

In six European countries, "those who think immigrants want to be distinct from society are more likely to be dissatisfied with democracy than those who think immigrants want to adopt the country’s customs," the study's authors explained. And those who have "favorable views of populist parties" would "tend to be more dissatisfied."

The study also found a strong link between democratic performance and the health of the economy. In 24 of the 27 countries surveyed worldwide, "people who say the national economy is in bad shape are more likely ... to be dissatisfied with the way democracy is working."

For example, about eight in 10 Hungarians who reckoned the economy is faring poorly are also unhappy with the state of democracy in the country, versus just 26 percent of those who think the economy is in good shape.

"The results indicate that dissatisfaction with democracy is related to the status of individual rights, economic frustration, and perceptions that political elites are corrupt and do not care about average citizens," the survey's authors summarized.