NYT ratings: The World’s Unpopular Leaders

By many measures, President Biden is very unpopular. Since at least World War II, no president has had a worse disapproval rating at this point in his term, notes The New York Times.

Relative to his international peers, however, Biden looks much better. Many leaders of developed democracies have disapproval ratings even higher than Biden’s, as this chart (above) shows – leaders’ disapproval ratings in developed democracies.

A chart shows disapproval ratings for leaders in select developed democracies like the U.S., Germany, U.K. and Japan. Most leaders shown have a disapproval rating over 50 percent.

Many world leaders are also up for re-election. More than 60 countries — half of the world’s population — will vote or have voted this year. Most of the countries in the chart above will vote in national or European Union elections in the coming months.

Why are people so upset with their leaders? Some explanations are local, but four global issues have driven much of the public’s anger. Call them the four I’s: inflation, immigration, inequality and incumbency.

Over the past several years, the world has often felt chaotic and uncertain. Many people hoped that the end of the Covid pandemic would bring normalcy. Instead, inflation spiked. Longer-term problems, such as illegal immigration and inequality, persist. National leaders have struggled to address these issues, often despite many years in power. The result is widespread disapproval of the people running the world. And many of them are now at risk of losing their jobs this year.

…This is very impressive. People dissatisfied with their leaders in ALL, so called, ‘developed democracies’!

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