Australians overwhelmingly like living in a democratically governed country. But many people are open to experts making the decisions, and a small but growing number think having a strong leader who doesn't bother with parliament or elections is good.
While most people think having a strong leader who doesn’t worry about basic democratic values is bad, a third think it is good.
Over half – 59% – think having experts rather than governments make decisions is good.
A very strong majority – 90% – think having a democratic system of government is good.
More than half – 57% – say it’s absolutely important to live in a democratically governed country.
Despite our claims to larrikinism, we have a keen respect for authority and many of us are open to ‘strongman’ and technocratic styles of government.
A third - 33 per cent - think having a strong leader, who doesn't back core democratic institutions such as elections, in charge is fairly good or very good. While the number who believe it would be very good has remained steady over the last two decades, those who think it would be fairly good has been rising since 1995.
Opinions generally differ with age. Those aged 30-34 most strongly think a strong leader as described would be good. They are the only age group where support rises above 50 per cent.
Those aged 65-69 are the least likely to back the strong leader model with 82 per cent saying it would be very bad (59 per cent) or fairly bad (23 per cent).
The idea of passing control for decisions to experts, rather than government, has stronger support. In 2018, 59 per cent of those asked think it would be very good or fairly good. This figure has been rising more strongly over the last two decades, with those thinking it would be very good rising 5 per cent since 1995.
This view is more popular among younger voters. Three in four Australians aged between 25-34 think it is a good idea, but that drops below 50 per cent for all age groups over 54.
Australians would like to see greater respect of authority with 56 per cent thinking it would be good and another 34 per cent not minding either way. This figure however has fallen since it was asked last in 2012.
Despite all those thinking of a more authoritarian or technocratic system, we like living in a democracy.
58 per cent thinking having a democratic system is very good and another 32 per cent think it is fairly good. These figures have stayed exactly the same for the last three surveys in 2018, 2012 and 2005.
More than half - 57 per cent - believe it’s absolutely important to live in a country that is democratically governed. On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 10 (absolutely important), only around 12 per cent put it a five or lower.