Vast public support worldwide for a democratic global government to tackle issues such as climate change

A new study has found that a majority of people surveyed worldwide support the creation of a democratic world government to tackle pressing global challenges such as climate change, war, and poverty. Of all countries surveyed, only the United States of America (45%) did not return a majority in support of the proposal.

The study is particularly relevant as heads of state and government gather this weekend at the United Nations Headquarters for a ‘Summit of the Future’ to address what the UN describes as “the critical challenges and gaps in global governance exposed by recent global shocks”.

‘Who on Earth Wants a World Government, What Kind, and Why? An International Survey Experiment’, by academics Dr Farsan Ghassim of the University of Oxford and Dr Markus Pauli of Dublin City University, surveyed more than 42,000 respondents in 17 countries worldwide, representing 54% of the world population.

The study finds that the proposition of a “world government” finds substantial global support, which varies according to the specification of the proposal, and the country surveyed.

The survey initially asked respondents if they supported the idea of a “world government”, without definition, which saw less than half of respondents in support (48%, with countries weighted equally). However, this rose significantly when it was specified that it would be democratic (68%), focused on global issues (67%) and focused on the specific example of the Covid-19 pandemic (64%). The proposal of a democratic world government focusing on global issues was supported by 69% on average. 

Egypt, India, Kenya, Indonesia, South Korea, Columbia, and Hungary have the largest majorities in favour of a democratic world government, ranging from 75% to 82% of respondents supporting the idea. The diversity of these countries – among others, in terms of population, development, freedom, and power – illustrates the idea’s broad appeal across the world.

Dr Markus Pauli, Assistant Professor in Political Science at Dublin City University, said;

“The vast support of 67% worldwide for a democratic global government that addresses major international challenges is impressive. Our survey had 42,000 respondents, which represent more than half of the world population. This reflects the global will to address crises such as climate change, war, and poverty – all of them core sustainable development goals – with the help of stronger, democratic global institutions. The support by majorities in all surveyed countries – with the notable exception of the US –  reflects people’s perception that the current global governance system is not capable of tackling major global challenges and needs to be reformed.”

Dr Farsan Ghassim, Junior Research Fellow in Politics at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford, said;

“The UN’s Summit of the Future this year is a historic opportunity to embark on a process of fundamental global governance transformations. While there is obviously a long way to go until the possible establishment of a democratic world government focusing on global issues, our surveys in recent years demonstrate that citizens worldwide would overwhelmingly support such ideas - in stark contrast to the current public focus on the resurgence of nationalist authoritarian populism. Our research shows world leaders and others gathering at the UN that there is much public appetite for wide-ranging institutional changes to make global governance stronger and more democratic. Whoever wants to hide behind the claim that people would not support such fundamental transformations now faces strong evidence against them.”

The full study is available to read here.