71% of Brazilians defend democracy, but 7% would prefer to live under a dictatorship

The vast majority of Brazilians believe democracy is the best form of government, but there are still those who would prefer to live under a dictatorship. This is precisely what a study by the Datafolha Institute shows, published this Saturday, March 30, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the military coup of March 31, 1964, which ushered in a bloody dictatorship that only ended in 1985.

According to Datafolha, 71% of Brazilians defend democracy and consider it the best form of government, despite its vicissitudes and imperfections. But there are still those who miss the times of the military regime, as evidenced by the 7% of respondents who answered that they preferred to live under a dictatorship.

Another fact that stands out in this survey is the indifference of part of Brazil’s 203 million population to the form of government. For 18% of Brazilians, or 36 million people, it does not matter whether they live in a democracy or a dictatorship. Although they constitute a large majority, Brazilians who are currently defending democracy constitute the smallest number since the last presidential election in October 2022, when Lula da Silva was elected, narrowly defeating re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro .

That year, 79% of Brazilians defended democracy, a figure that fell to 75% in last December’s 2023 poll. The data has now dropped to 71%, the lowest percentage of support for democracy since the polls began. scheduled to take place in 1989.