A global poll by an international civil society organisation, Open Society Foundation, has revealed that 42% of younger people are now in support of “military rule” as against democratically elected governments in their respective countries.

The poll, which was surveyed in over 30 countries of the world, showed that the young ones between 18 to 35 years of age queue behind military rule against just 20% of the older generation.

The result was published on Tuesday amid the military coup in some African countries.

Military coups were a regular occurrence in some parts of Africa, most especially in the decades after independence but now, after a period of relative democratic stability, there are indications they are on the rise again.

The military takeover in Gabon is just the latest string of coups that have taken place in recent years. This came just a month after soldiers took control of power in Niger and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

There were two military coups in Burkina Faso in 2022 as well as failed coup attempts in Guinea Bissau and the Gambia and the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

However, the foundation’s report, founded by the billionaire philanthropist, George Soros, revealed that more than a third (35%) of young people felt a “strong leader” who did not hold elections or consult parliament was “a good way to run a country”.

Mark Malloch Brown, the president of the foundation and former United Nations secretary-general, said the findings carried out are both ‘sobering and alarming.’

“People around the world still want to believe in democracy, but generation by generation that faith is fading as doubts grow about its ability to deliver concrete changes to their lives,” Mr Brown laments.

In the poll, 86% of the respondents would prefer to live in a democratic state and only 20% believe authoritarian regimes are more capable of delivering “what citizens want.”

Democracy remained popular across the world, but faced with a global array of challenges from inequality to the climate crisis and young people are far less likely than their elders to believe it can deliver on what concerns them.

However, the polling also revealed strong support for human rights, with majorities of between 85% and 95% in all regions and at every income level agreeing it was wrong for governments to violate individual rights on grounds of appearance, religion, sexual or gender orientation.

At the times of multiplying national and international crises, the respondents were most worried about poverty and inequality, the climate crisis and corruption.

However, more than half of the respondents also felt their country was heading in the wrong direction and about a third said politicians were not working in their best interests.

They explained how they struggled to feed themselves at least once in the past year, noting that democracy was falling short of its potential, according to the result from the poll.

An average of 58% of respondents also said they were worried that political unrest in their countries could lead to violence in the next year – a fear that was highest in South Africa, Kenya, Colombia and Nigeria.