Survey shows respect for U.S. democracy in decline globally: SCMP

HONG KONG, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that opinions towards the U.S. political system have declined both outside and within the United States, said an article by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Monday.

The survey from the U.S. think tank involved more than 16,000 participants from 16 advanced economies and 2,500 from the United States in February.

Results show that 57 percent of the global respondents said that U.S. democracy "used to be a good example, but has not been in recent years" while 72 percent of the U.S. respondents share the same view.

"Few believe U.S. democracy, at least in its current state, serves as a good model for other nations," said the article.

The report said that survey respondents expressed a "great deal of concern" about racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States.

"Between 82 percent and 95 percent in every public outside of the U.S. believe this kind of discrimination is at least a somewhat serious problem, and more than four in 10 call it very serious," the report said.