Indians and Malays Politically Satisfied; Pak, Thailand, Not Much

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.