Democracy Or Meritocracy? Over Half Of Swedish Youth Prefer A Government Run By Experts Rather Than Politicians

A survey involving 6,000 Swedish youth between the ages of 16-25 has revealed that a majority of them prefer a government of experts over a democratically elected government, Swedish news agency The Local has reported . The same group of respondents have also agreed that voting should not be a right for those who don’t know anything about politics. The survey was carried out by the agency analysis firm Kairos Future.

"I think young people have a feeling that politicians are incapable of solving the problems we face, whether it's the climate or migration. It's easy to think that politicians just sit in their sandbox and fight with each other, and that we therefore need experts to take over," Åsa Knaggård , a research at Lund University told the Swedish publication ETC .

The result of the survey indicates that the Swedish youth are skeptical about democracy and performance of politicians. 54 per cent of the youth felt that the government was better off with experts while 51 per cent felt that the right to vote should not be universal.

Sweden is among the most prosperous nations in the world and was placed fifth in a ‘Best Governed Countries’ index behind Finland, New Zealand, Norway and Netherlands, in that order.