Despite a strong belief in political freedom, democratic satisfaction has dropped in Tanzania since 2011. Photo: Daniel Hayduk
September 15 is the International Day of Democracy and a newly released study shows satisfaction with democracy in Tanzania is on the decline despite maintaining a strong belief in political freedom.
The survey, released by Afrobarometer, shows that overall satisfaction with the way democracy works in Tanzania has dropped from 75 percent in 2011 to just 60 percent in 2015.
On average, satisfaction with democracy has declined by four percent across the 28 countries polled.
Sierra Leone’s drop was the most drastic: down 32 percent in the past four years.
While 58 percent of those surveyed believe the country is a ‘full democracy’ or one with ‘minor problems,’ Tanzania scored highly on freedom of speech — with only four percent saying that they were not free to speak their mind.
On a political level, 98 percent say they are ‘completely free’ or ‘somewhat free’ to vote for a candidate of their choice and 75 percent say elections are mostly free and fair.
Afrobarometer is a pan-African non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys.
You can read the report here.
