Indians Politically ‘Happy’

Political highs and lows aside, Indians are largely positive about the political situation in their country. The political sentiment in the country runs strong, with 63% respondents in a recent survey expressing satisfaction with the way things have been going. 

In fact, India is the second most satisfied Asian nation, preceded only by Malaysia (66%). 

These findings come from a recent Pew Research Center survey, conducted across 34 emerging and developing nations with over 38,000 respondents. 

Least Satisfied: Middle East and Latin America 

Lebanon is among the most discontented political nations, with dissatisfaction at 90%. So is Palestine – at 70%. 

In Latin America,  Brazil looks disappointed. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was sworn in for a second term on January 2, 2015.

“The opposite is true, however, in Asia – 60% are either very or somewhat satisfied with their political system.”

 Dissent is also high in Pakistan, at 43%. Talking of high, Thailand topped Asian disappointment charts at 70%. The nation witnessed a coup in May 2014, the 12th in the last 80 years, causing much turmoil.  

Political Satisfaction = Economic Happiness 

Inspite of being one of the few political success stories of the Arab Spring, Tunisia ranks poorly in political dis-satisfaction - 70%.  Simply because almost 88% Tunisians consider economic conditions to be poor in the country. In comparision, Egypt, inspite of having a less open government, has lower political dis-satisfaction - 52%.  

Making it clear that poor economic conditions and political dissatisfaction are closely tied.