LONDON - PEOPLE in some of the world's longest established democracies seem to have an element of fear over how fragile democracy could prove in the face of terrorism, a new global opinion poll reveals.
More than half the 12,000 people surveyed by the poll believe that terrorism can destroy democracy.
The survey was commissioned as part of a wider exploration of global attitudes to democracy for the BBC World's Why Democracy? programme, which is scheduled to go on air from Saturday.
Carried out by international market research company Synovate, the poll was conducted across 15 countries on five continents.
Respondents were interviewed during August across the United States, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, India, Poland, Dubai, Britain, South Korea, Italy, South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Russia.
In total, 58 per cent of respondents said they agreed with the statement that terrorism can destroy democracy.
The country with the highest concern was France with 76 per cent agreeing, closely followed by Denmark with 75 per cent, Dubai with 72 per cent and the US with 70 per cent.
Less than half agreed in India, the world's largest democracy, and 31 per cent there said they strongly disagreed with the statement.
When it comes to the importance of voting in their national elections, the vast majority of respondents - 84 per cent - felt it was very or quite important.
Respondents were also asked whether, given their political structures, they thought China or the US was best equipped to combat climate change.
Overall, the US came in well ahead of China at 57 per cent versus 22 per cent. The most scepticism about the US' ability to combat climate change came from India, where just 40 per cent opted for the US. The next most sceptical was Russia with 46 per cent for the US and 34 per cent for China.
