However, we can illustrate my point using proof by counter example. It is entirely possible to imagine two countries with the same government structure (and hence “democracy”) but with different answers to this kind of survey.

Imagine two nearly identical countries each with corrupt governments having the exact same structure and culture etc. The only major difference between them is that in one of the countries, a recent scandal has occurred which was able to bring to light deep seated corruption and criminal activity of many public figures, whereas similar acts are being committed by the govt. of the other country, but none of it has been brought so fully to light yet.

The citizens of the former country are likely to rank their “democracy” lower than the citizens of the latter would rate their own, despite the fact both governments have equal amounts of corruption. Hence, surveys of popular opinion of democracy are not directly indicative of the “level of democracy” or level of corruption or fidelity etc. etc.. QED.

[–] Kynsey@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 hours ago

Thank you, this really cleared up for me why we view this differently.

You said, "It is entirely possible to imagine two countries with the same government structure (and hence “democracy”)"

I do not personally view a government structure as relevant to the level of democracy within a nation. I look at it purely through the lens of if people within that country are happy with the outcome or not. As their happiness with the outcome is the evidence, to me, of their best interests being met. That is what I see as 'democracy'.

I do also see your point about recent scandals or other major news events perhaps having an outsized effect on peoples answers to questions like these. As people tend to answer emotionally rather than rationally. I do think it is quite easy to compensate for this though. You would simply need to look at data over a long period of time. While a scandal may cause a shift in the numbers if you look over many years you can see the overall sentiment, which is more likely to reflect the actual material conditions of the nation as it can be averaged out to remove these outliers.