In the latest Eurobarometer survey in the European Union, conducted during the week of November 14 to 28, 2019, Maltese perception of the strength of democracy fell markedly.

While 71 per cent had said in 2018 they were satisfied with the state of democracy in the country, in 2019 only 48 per cent expressed satisfaction with the situation, while 46 per cent cited dissatisfaction.

This was a remarkable turnaround in perceptions in the space of one year. Why? One reason may be that the timing of the survey coincided with probably the most turbulent period of politics in the last 40 years. There were almost daily vocal protests outside parliament in Valletta, which the survey identified as a possible cause for the impact on the responses of participants.

Counter-intuitively, one could argue that strong civic protests (which did not lead to bloodshed or any police overreaction) were actually an indication of a healthy democracy, where the freedom to protest is cherished.

But the survey also revealed a significant drop in people’s positive perception of their country (what one might call national pride), with just 58 per cent who perceived their country’s situation to be “good or quite good”, compared to a remarkable 87 per cent in 2018.

While the survey about the strength of democracy took place at the height of political unrest – a period which, three months later, has thankfully moved on to a more settled phase – one is left with the impression of national malaise which the steep drop in Maltese self-regard has reflected.

Of the survey’s results, this aspect may be most important. Although only 35 per cent judged the situation to be “bad or rather bad”, the significant drop from the previous year highlights an erosion of national self-confidence and a drop in pride in what Malta has achieved over the last half century and the new-found economic prosperity of recent years.

Inevitably, this has fostered psychological insecurity and a lowering of national morale, which in turn has led to a general lack of trust in the democratic institutions that are meant to protect Maltese citizens. This is the crux of what the Eurobarometer survey tells us about ourselves.

It may turn out to have been a black swan event, but the lessons for the new prime minister are clear. Democracy in Malta, with its emphasis on checks and balances and power distributed across strong independent institutions, has not worked efficiently or effectively in the last few years. Corruption and maladministration have been rife. The need for constitutional and institutional change is now paramount.

The pressures on democracies – not simply in Malta, but Europe- and world-wide – are heightened by the context in which so much politics is conducted.

The conclusions of a recent survey by Cambridge University’s Centre for the Future of Democracy made for sobering reading.

It found that dissatisfaction is at its highest level in many of the world’s democracies, including Britain, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the US.

The essence of democracy is compromise. It is the only political system ever devised that has proved capable of peacefully reconciling competing interests while maintaining freedoms and human rights.

The Cambridge survey found that satisfaction with democracy is highest in Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands where governance is characterised by trade-offs and broad consensus on common issues.

Prime Minister Robert Abela must rebuild democratic trust in Malta’s political system.