We are second to last in Europe, in the democracy index; citizens believe that the judiciary cannot stop abuses of power

Our country is among the European states with the worst assessments of the functioning of democracy, according to the Democracy Perception Index 2026, the largest annual global study on the population's perception of democracy, conducted by Nira Data in collaboration with the Alliance of Democracies and published last Friday. The research, carried out in 98 states and based on interviews given by over 94,000 adults between March 19 and April 21, 2026, paints the picture of a world that continues to consider democracy important, but is rapidly losing confidence that it still produces stability, prosperity and institutional protection.

In the global ranking of the perception of democracy, Romania is at the bottom of the hierarchy, with a score of -21 points, identical to that of Russia and significantly below the European average, which is already negative. At the European level, Romania ranks second to last, ahead of Ukraine, being included in the category of states with a "very negative" perception of the functioning of democracy. Only Ukraine is worse, with a score of -23.

The report shows that the degradation of the democratic perception in Romania is linked in particular to the collapse of trust in the judiciary, in the separation of powers in the state and in the transparency of public institutions. Romania appears in 97th place out of 98 states analyzed in the "rule of law" chapter, with a score of -36 regarding the perception that the courts make fair and impartial decisions. Only Lebanon is worse. Regarding the separation of powers, our country is included in the group of the worst-rated states in the world, with the population considering that the courts could not stop the government if it were to break the law.

The perception of government transparency is also extremely negative. Romania ranks among the last countries globally in terms of the population's belief that the authorities are hiding important information of public interest. In addition, the report also indicates a deterioration in public optimism regarding the direction of our country, which is included in the group of European countries dominated by social and political pessimism.

The report also shows that, globally, over two-thirds of the subjects interviewed consider it very important for their country to be democratic. However, what is changing radically is the practical definition of democracy. For the majority of the world's population, the main goal of democracy is no longer protecting freedoms or freely choosing the government, but improving the standard of living and economic well-being. In 62% of the countries analyzed, this is the dominant priority.

The report thus captures a profound mutation in the population's relationship to democratic systems. Citizens no longer judge democracy primarily through the prism of abstract principles, but through its capacity to deliver economic security, social order and future prospects.

• Europe, the most pessimistic region in the world regarding the future of its member states

According to the report, Europe is the most pessimistic region in the world regarding the direction in which its states are heading. France and Germany are among the countries with the most negative perceptions of the future, while China appears as the state with the highest level of public optimism regarding the direction in which the country is heading. This contrast is one of the strongest conclusions of the report.

While the major Western democracies are dominated by distrust, economic anxiety and the perception of institutional decline, some authoritarian or semi-authoritarian states manage to obtain positive assessments from their own citizens. China is the most obvious example. Although it is not considered a democracy by classic international assessments, the Chinese population gives high scores to dimensions such as the rule of law, civic education and peaceful transitions of power.

The authors of the report explicitly warn that these results should be interpreted as public perceptions and not as objective assessments of democratic quality. In countries with strong control over information and public space, citizens may have significantly different perceptions than the standards used by Western experts.

However, beyond differences in political regimes, the study shows that there is a common global trend: a loss of trust in the ability of democratic systems to produce concrete results. In almost all regions of the world, citizens negatively assess government transparency and the efficiency of institutions.

• 50% of respondents support the rules of international law

The report also shows that the world's population still prefers an international order based on rules and cooperation. Globally, 50% of respondents say that states should respect international law even when it limits their freedom of action, while 31% are against. The strongest support for a rules-based international order is in Northern and Eastern Europe.

At the same time, however, geopolitical tensions are rapidly changing public priorities. In most countries, people believe that strengthening alliances is the best way to protect themselves from external threats.

The report also highlights a decline in the willingness of people to fight for their country. Globally, the percentage of people aged 18 to 55 who are willing to fight in the event of an external attack fell from 53% in 2025 to 45% in 2026. Europe has the lowest level of readiness to defend their country with arms, with only 37% saying they would be willing to fight.

Another major finding concerns the world's relationship with the United States. The report shows that the global image of the United States has deteriorated dramatically and continues to decline for the second year in a row. The United States has become one of the five most negatively perceived countries in the world, along with Israel, North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran.

For the first time, the US is perceived more negatively globally than Russia. The authors of the study believe that this is the most important geopolitical change in perception captured by the 2026 data.

In parallel, China is perceived more favorably than the United States in most countries of the world, including most of Europe. In 63 of the 83 countries that comparatively evaluated the two powers, China has a better image than the US.

However, the report rejects the idea of a world that is simply reconfiguring itself into pro-American and pro-Chinese blocs. The authors speak of a phenomenon of "global misalignment”, not "global realignment”. In other words, the decline in the popularity of the United States does not automatically translate into an equivalent rise of China or Russia, but into a general erosion of attachment to the great traditional centers of power.

• 85 out of 98 countries analyzed side with Denmark in the conflict with the US over Greenland

This phenomenon is also seen in the way the world's populations position themselves regarding major geopolitical conflicts. In the war between Russia and Ukraine, 55 out of 98 countries evaluated support Ukraine rather than Russia, and 30 support Russia. Europe is overwhelmingly pro-Ukraine, while the Middle East and North Africa lean towards Russia.

In the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the report indicates a clear global trend in favor of Palestine: 51 countries support Palestine rather than Israel, and only 17 support Israel. In the hypothetical conflict between China and Taiwan, the world is almost perfectly divided: 41 countries support Taiwan and 38 China.

Perhaps the most spectacular conclusion of the entire report, however, concerns the hypothetical dispute between the United States and Greenland/Denmark. Only two out of 98 countries analyzed support the US rather than the US, while 85 support Greenland and Denmark. Even the American public leans, by 12 percentage points, in favor of Greenland and Denmark.

In terms of international image, Switzerland remains the country with the most positive global perception, followed by Canada, Japan, Sweden and Italy. Most of the top countries are small or medium-sized European democracies, perceived as stable, prosperous and predictable.

BOX:

USA, one of the most negatively perceived powers in the world

The Democracy Perception Index 2026 records one of the most spectacular deteriorations in international image recorded in recent years: the collapse of global perception of the United States.

According to the report, the US has become one of the five most negatively perceived countries in the world, along with Israel, North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran. America's global image has deteriorated for the second consecutive year, and in 2026 the United States is perceived more negatively than Russia, a major symbolic reversal compared to previous years.

The authors of the report show that the global perception of the US collapsed by almost 40 points between 2024 and 2026, and in the last year alone the decrease was 11 points, from minus 5 to minus 16.

The most favorable perceptions of the US are found in Israel, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Georgia and Venezuela. At the opposite pole, the most negative assessments come from Tunisia, Serbia, Algeria, Switzerland and Turkey.

Europe is the region where the image of the United States has deteriorated the most. The net perception of the US in Europe is minus 35 points, much weaker than the perception of China, which is at minus 14.

The authors of the Democracy Perception Index believe that the decline in the global image of the United States represents the most important geopolitical mutation of perception captured by the 2026 edition of the study.