Quaest: 65% prefer democracy, and satisfaction with the system is the highest in a series dating to 2002

Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.

A post-election poll by Quaest, conducted in partnership with O Globo and reported by g1 on Tuesday (10), shows that 65% of Brazilians consider democracy better than any other form of government. For 9%, a dictatorship may be preferable under certain circumstances; 11% say it makes no difference, and 15% did not know or did not want to answer.

According to the survey, education and income are the factors that weigh most. The preference for democracy reaches 86% among those with higher education and falls to 54% among those who only attended elementary school. Among families earning up to two minimum wages, the rate is 55%, and 25% did not know how to answer. In the 16-to-34 age group, 61% prefer democracy, the lowest rate among age brackets, and 12% accept dictatorship in some situations.

The poll also measured satisfaction with how democracy works in the country: 48% say they are satisfied, 46% dissatisfied and 6% did not answer. According to g1, it is the highest satisfaction rate since 2002 compared with the series of the Brazilian Electoral Study (Eseb), carried out after each presidential election. In 2018, only 12% were satisfied; in 2022, the figure was 25%.

There are regional and religious contrasts. In the Northeast, 61% are satisfied and 33% dissatisfied, while in the South the picture is reversed, with 61% dissatisfied and 36% satisfied. Among Catholics, satisfaction reaches 53%; among evangelicals, it stands at 38%, against 57% dissatisfied.

Quaest conducted 2,004 face-to-face household interviews with voters aged 16 or older between October 30 and November 2. The margin of error is two percentage points, with a 95% confidence level. g1 notes that the earlier data come from Eseb, which used equivalent questions but with differences in wording.