Portugal among four EU countries where citizens have least confidence in political system
More than 60% of citizens in Portugal tend not to trust the Portuguese Parliament, a figure above the European average of 56%, according to a portrait of perceptions of politics released today by Pordata.
According to the report that analyses the Portuguese perception of politics, prepared by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation’s statistical database, which uses data from the 2023 Eurobarometer, eight out of 10 respondents in Portugal tend not to trust political parties, in line with the trend in 19 of the 27 European Union (EU) countries, where more than 70% of people tend not to trust political parties.
Data from the European Social Survey reveals that Portugal is among the four countries where citizens have the least confidence in their ability to participate in politics (83%), after Slovakia (84%) and alongside Latvia and Czechia (83%).
Pordata explains that 73% of national citizens consider the system does not allow, or allows little, people to influence politics – a perception shared by more than half of the countries analysed, with the exception of Norway, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands, where political systems are considered to allow people some degree of influence.
According to the report, more than half of those surveyed (56%) say they are satisfied with national democracy, a figure slightly above the European average (55%), although 43% say they are dissatisfied.
As for interest in politics, the Portuguese and Italians are the Europeans who spend the most time watching, listening to or reading news about politics and/ or current affairs (more than two hours a day), with four out of 10 people in Portugal showing a great deal or some interest in the subject.
Even so, according to Eurobarometer data, 32% of people in Portugal say they never talk about politics with friends or family, while only 10% say they often discuss the topic – well below the European average of 25%.
With regard to political positioning, taking into account the left-right spectrum, 31% of Portuguese respondents say they are in the center, 28% more to the left and 19% more to the right, compared to the European average of 38% in the center, 28% more to the left and 23% more to the right.
The report also highlights the 16% of respondents who don’t know how to answer this question and the 6% who refused to do so.
As for the justice system, Portugal is among nine EU countries in which more than half (53%) of those surveyed tend not to trust the justice system – a figure nine percentage points above the European average of 44%.
On the other hand, more than half of those surveyed (54%) in Portugal tend to trust the European Union, compared to 47% of the European average.
LUSA
