MOSCOW, Sputnik Press Office — As part of the Sputnik.Facts project, Sputnik Agency is publishing data on public confidence in governments in different countries. According to a survey conducted by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), between 2007 and 2014 the number of people who trust their government grew by 27 percent in Russia and fell by 4 percent in the United States.
Citizens of the Czech Republic, Poland, the United Kingdom, Norway and Italy (+7 percent, +6 percent, +6 percent, +2 percent and +1 percent, respectively) also became more confident in their respective governments. Public confidence in state authorities remained unchanged in Turkey and Sweden, while the governments of Denmark (-13 percent), France (-10 percent) and Brazil (-2 percent) saw an erosion of public support.
In all, the biggest gains between 2007 and 2014 were made by the governments of Russia (+27 percent), Germany (+25 percent), Iceland and Israel (both +22 percent). The biggest drops in confidence were recorded in South Africa (-32 percent), Slovenia (-30 percent), Finland (-29 percent), and in Southern European countries particularly affected by the economic crisis, including Spain (-27 percent), Portugal (-22 percent) and Greece (-19 percent).
However, information regarding Europe could be misleading in that 2014 data does not take the governments' response to the refugee crisis into consideration.
About the Sputnik.Facts project
The project, launched by Sputnik news agency and radio network, publishes information on current political and social issues based on the national and international statistics gathered by the UN, the IMF, and other organizations, as well as the forecasts of major research centers.