64% of Ukrainians consider democracy the best type of state system for Ukraine – survey

64% of Ukrainians believe that democracy is the most desirable type of state system for Ukraine.

This is evidenced by the results of a sociological survey conducted between August 5 and 12 by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with Razumkov Centre's sociological service.

14% believe that under certain circumstances, autocracy may be better than democracy, and for 13% of respondents the regime type did not matter.

"These democracy support scores are the highest for many years of observation: before 2014, the priority of democracy was supported by less than 50%, after the Revolution of Dignity this indicator increased to 54%, but only after the start of the big war it exceeded 60%," the study says.

In addition, 31% of respondents are ready to cede a share of their rights and civil liberties to the state in exchange for their own wellfare. Over 47% are ready to endure certain material hardships for the sake of personal freedom and guaranteed observance of all civil rights. Another 22% were undecided with their answer.

39% prioritize security over freedom, and 34.5%, on the contrary, prioritize freedom over security. Another 26.6% of respondents were undecided.

The researchers note that previously, the demand for a "strong hand" had been gradually decreasing. But today the situation has somewhat changed, and over 58% believe that a few strong leaders can do more for the country than all the laws and discussions. Before the big war, this indicator did not exceed 55%. "However, this growth is significantly smaller than the increase in support for democracy. It is also worth noting that the highest indicators of support for the 'strong hand' were recorded in the late 2000's and amounted to about 75%," the survey says.

Over 90% of Ukrainians are proud of their citizenship. (54.5% are very proud and 36% are rather proud). This is the highest indicator for the entire period of sociological monitoring, the researchers note.

The survey was conducted via face-to-face interviews in 112 settlements (57 urban and 55 rural) in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Chernivtsi oblasts and Kyiv city (in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv regions, the survey was only conducted in the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government and free from hostilities).

2024 respondents over the age of 18 were surveyed. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%.