The most significant finding in this year’s Global Perceptions study is that liberal, capitalist democracies appear to be losing their appeal among young people across the G20, while states with more authoritarian governments are seeing their ratings rise. 

Countries like the UK, Japan and Canada still perform well, but their ratings are at best static – and across multiple metrics, there have been significant falls. Canada’s trajectory is illustrative: trust in its government has fallen ten percentage points since 2016. Yet at 52%, Canada still ranks third, after the UK and Japan (both on 55%).

Over the same period, the trust in government ratings for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), China, and Türkiye have risen by sixteen, eleven, and fourteen points respectively. All three now sit at 40%. In 2016, KSA’s rating was 24% and Canada’s was 62% – a gap of 38 points has narrowed to just twelve.

Meeting at the intersection

It would be simplistic to claim these trajectories will inevitably intersect. Canada’s ratings may stabilise or rebound, and KSA’s may plateau. But it is now entirely plausible that KSA could catch up with – or even surpass – Canada.

The broader trend is unmistakable: more authoritarian states are climbing across multiple metrics, while liberal democracies are slipping. The levelling of the playing field – the ‘rest’ catching up with the West – is no longer hypothetical. It is happening.

This is especially clear in the responses to the question how well do G20 countries support the values young people most prize? The ratings for the United States and China are identical – 47% of respondents saying very/fairly well, and 24% very/fairly poorly. That is two states with profoundly different political economies in a dead heat – one the alpha dog of democratic capitalism, the latter the bastion of Marxism, albeit Marxism with Chinese Characteristics.

Soft power and values

Soft power operates through a blend of socio-cultural and economic factors - some obvious, some obscure. Foreign direct investment, international student flows, Harry Potter, and the Royal Family are familiar examples. 

But there is also the niche, global fascination with the surreal continuity of Germany’s dubbing industry - one voice actor, Dietmar Wunder, simultaneously embodies Daniel Craig’s Bond, Don Cheadle’s War Machine, and Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore.

Yet a critical component of soft power is values. Liberal, capitalist democracies have long dominated soft power rankings – from Global Perceptions to indices like the Brand Finance Soft Power Index – ever since Joseph Nye first coined the term.

The combination of high GDP per capita and the social and political freedoms enjoyed by wealthy Euro-Atlantic and Asia-Pacific states like Canada, Italy and Japan, has made them highly appealing to people from poorer countries with more authoritarian governments.

Historically, it was not enough to be wealthy or to espouse the ‘right’ values. Neither authoritarian countries with high GDP per capita, nor poorer, democratic states could compete. The winning formula was the combination of the two – and, more subtly, the received wisdom of the post-Cold War era that they were codependent. 

That status quo now appears to be unravelling. Countries perceived as powerful, modern, and economically successful – but objectively less free – are gaining ground. China’s second place ranking in the 2025 Brand Finance Index is the most obvious example. The results from Global Perceptions 2025 are another.

What’s happening?

In an era of global uncertainty, competition and conflict, young people across the G20 may be placing greater value on stability, security, and the ability to just get things done. 

If it is a choice between freedom and security and prosperity, which would you choose? Are endless consultations and debates – where everyone gets a say, but it takes thirty years (and counting) to build a third runway at the national airport - really preferable to swift action? China, for instance, is averaging ten new airports a year. 

The contrast can be stark: handwringing, point scoring and endless broken promises versus new homes, jobs, and vital infrastructure. Not to mention the trains, planes and (flying) automobiles. Progress - at least economic progress - versus paralysis.

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Yet despite the weakening of the West’ appeal and the rise of more authoritarian states, the values young people say they prize most remain those of free and open societies: equality, peace, freedom. Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Values that shaped the French Revolution and the American Constitution. Values young people from the four corners of the world have mounted the barricades to defend for centuries – often at great personal cost.

There is remarkable consistency across G20 countries, regardless of their home state’s political economy, on the primary importance of equality – providing equal rights for people regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation. Young people have not given up the fight for political and social freedoms.

What we may be witnessing is not admiration for authoritarianism per se, but for progress and success, coupled with frustration with democracy’s failure to deliver. Impatience with politics is not the same as abandoning principles. Young people remain deeply committed to freedom and justice. They are demanding better, not settling for less.

The lesson for the Western leaders is not to abandon a model that has brought wealth, freedom, and a voice to billions. It is to listen to the people – and do better, be better.

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time... 

Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 11 November 1947