We had a military coup almost two years ago here in Thailand. There’s so much turmoil right now, including a large ongoing street protest near Government House and parliament, that I keep expecting another one any day now. So not here.
The government in Israel isn’t very popular. Nor is the government in Australia. Googling around, it looks like most governments are not being looked upon too favorably right now. Troubling times, I guess.
The king of Bhutan (link to March 2008 National Geographic article with georgeous photo’s) and his rule seems to be universally loved by his subjects. But he, of all rulers, has arranged for himself to be succeeded not by his son (who is just as loved), but by a democracy.
Lastly, I suppose most Western countries are fairly content with their leaders.
Polls are not so much an indication of how satisfied people are with their leaders; mostly, polls are
an indication of how free the pollees are to express themselves, (Mugabe and Kim Whathisname for Korea will probably get raving reviews in their ususla opinion polls, and how much does that say?
an indication of how much a leader is held responsible for the nation’s welbeing. T
3.If there is geneally a culture of complaining and bitching about stuff, leaders included.
(A culture of complaining is not a bad thing in itself; my own pet theory is that the Dutch have it so good, precisely because of their constant bitching about everything in their own country. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, etcetera)
There was a recent poll asking people around the world how much confidence they had in various prominent world leaders. The ones who did best were Putin, Hu, and Ahmedinejad — not exactly the most august group.
Indeed. I believe the son recently became king when his father stepped down after figuring it was time. The son is just as popular in Thailand. He and his wife are flocked around whenever they visit here. The Bhutanese also recently held an election for prime minister and a parliament at the king’s insistence. The people would have been perfectly happy to continue as is.
