Democratic dissatisfaction has increased mainly in developed countries | Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images Democratic dissatisfaction at highest level in 25 years: report Dissatisfaction has risen mainly in developed countries.

Dissatisfaction with democracy across the world is at its highest level in 25 years, according to a study published this week.

The University of Cambridge's 2020 Global Satisfaction with Democracy report estimates that the number of people not satisfied with democracy in their countries has risen by nearly 10 percentage points since 1995, from 47.9 to 57.5 percent. The study looked at data from 154 countries.

The report notes, however, that while dissatisfaction exists both in developed and developing countries, it has increased mainly among citizens of developed countries.

"In developing democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe, levels of discontent are high – with more than half of respondents typically dissatisfied — yet with only a slight average increase in the last quarter century," the study reports. "In developed democracies, by contrast, public satisfaction has eroded since the 1990s, with levels of discontent rising from a third to half of all respondents."

The exceptions include Asia — where on average almost two thirds of citizens are satisfied with democracy in their country — and some European countries like Switzerland, Denmark and Norway, where satisfaction is reported to be at an all-time high.

Europe "contains both world’s most satisfied, but also many of its least satisfied democracies," the report notes.

The authors suggest that the decline could stem from a series of crises, including the 2008 financial crash, the eurozone crisis and the 2015 European refugee crisis.

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