Datafolha: 73% of Brazilians believe that democracy is always better than any form of government

Praça dos Três Poderes — Photo: Victor Hugo Mori/Iphan

The majority of Brazilian voters agree that Brazilian democracy is always better than any other form of government, according to a Datafolha survey released this Friday (2). The survey was commissioned by Globo and the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

Asked whether democracy was always better than any form of government, 73% of participants said yes, while 15% responded that it doesn't matter whether it is a democracy or a dictatorship. Another 7% declared that, in certain circumstances, a dictatorship was better than a democratic regime.

Democracy is always better than any form of government: 73%

It doesn't matter if it's a democracy or a dictatorship: 15%

In certain circumstances a dictatorship is better than a democratic regime: 7%

Don't know/didn't answer: 5%

Most voters agree that democracy is always better than any form of government, says Datafolha — Photo: arte/g1

According to the survey, when analyzing voting intentions for president, support for democracy is similar among voters for Lula (PT), with 76%, and Flavio Bolsonaro (PL), with 74%.

The last time the survey recorded this data was in September 2025, when 69% said that democracy was always better than any other form of government. The historical series began in 1989, the year in which 43% of Brazilians gave the same answer. The index's record was in October 2022, with 79%.

Most pessimistic voters

The survey also asked how participants feel when they think about Brazil today. The survey shows that the group of optimists in the country fell between the middle of September and the beginning of October, from 43% to 35%. At the same time, the share of pessimists rose from 37% to 43%.

See more details about the answers:

Optimistic: 35% (was 43% in September)

Pessimistic: 43% (was 37% in September)

Hesitant: 22% (was 20% in September)

In the analysis by voting intention for president, optimism is greater among voters of Lula (PT), with 58%, than among those of Flavio Bolsonaro (PL), with 15%. Pessimism follows the opposite path, 22% among Lula voters and 60% among Flavio Bolsonaro voters.

At the same time, although pessimism remains higher among Flavio Bolsonaro voters, the survey showed the greatest decline in optimism among those voting for Lula. In this group, the share of optimists fell from 71% to 58%.

Datafolha interviewed 2,506 people aged 16 or over between September 29th and October 1st. The margin of error is 2 percentage points, plus or minus, and the confidence level is 95%. The TSE registration number is BR-08039/2026.