What is the Satisfaction with Democracy Related to and what is the Situation in Lithuania?

Abstract

The article is based on the data of the 10th round of the European Social Survey (ESS) analysis and discusses the correlation between Lithuanian residents’ satisfaction with democracy and political participation, self-evaluation of political efficacy, social trust, trust in authorities and satisfaction with their performance, as well as sociodemographic variables. The article also analyses the dynamics of satisfaction with democracy in Lithuania, and this indicator is compared with the data of other countries that participated in the ESS. The analysis was performed with a representative sample of the Lithuanian population, and the case of Lithuania was compared with representative population samples of other countries. The method of research is statistical analysis, Pearson’s r correlation coefficient was calculated. Statistically significant correlations were identified between the satisfaction with democracy and almost all analysed variables. The strongest positive statistically significant correlations between the satisfaction with democracy in Lithuania are with the satisfaction with the government and its performance and trust in authorities.