The proportion of Chileans who believe democracy is the best form of government fell to 70 percent from 75 percent two years ago, according to the results of a poll published today in El Mercurio.
Chileans are less keen on democracy than Ecuadoreans, Bolivians or Haitians, the newspaper said, citing Juan Pablo Luna of the Catholic University, who organized the Chilean part of the Lapop regional survey.
Less than half the 1,527 Chileans surveyed are satisfied with the way Chile's democracy works and 14 percent would prefer an authoritarian regime above all others, the newspaper said. President Michelle Bachelet's 53 percent approval ranks her ninth among the 21 leaders of the countries surveyed, the newspaper said.
The polled, which questioned 1,527 Chileans older than 18 between Dec. 7 if last year and Jan. 9 of this year, has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points, the newspaper said.
