In Short brings to you selected Opinion pieces each week in bite-size portions. This is a shorter version of the full commentary.

2022 is going to be about many things, including the pandemic, climate change and workplace changes. It will also be about democracy.

The Economist led its predictions of top 10 trends to watch in 2022 with a focus on the contest between democracy and autocracy, describing it thus: "America's midterm elections and China's Communist Party Congress will vividly contrast their rival political systems. Which is better at delivering stability, growth and innovation? This rivalry will play out in everything from trade to tech regulation, vaccinations to space stations."

I wrote my weekly column last Friday (Jan 7) on the "ongoing battle over democracy".

I had not read The Economist list when I wrote my article, but was not surprised, when I did read it, to see that democracy featured so prominently in its list of issues to watch in the coming year.

Surveys show that discontent with democratic politics has been rising in the developed world. The Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge University found global dissatisfaction with democracy at an all-time high. Its data set, based on more than four million people's views, combined over 25 international survey projects covering 154 countries between 1995 and 2020. The research showed that the proportion of people dissatisfied with democracy rose from 38.7 per cent of citizens in 2005, to 57.5 per cent in 2019.

Pew Research Centre surveys found that across the world, especially in developed countries, people like the idea of representative government, but do not like the way the democratic system is working in their countries. In other words, people like the ideal of democracy but not the practice of it.

"A median of 56 per cent across 17 advanced economies surveyed in 2021 say their political system needs major changes, or needs to be completely reformed. Roughly two-thirds or more express this opinion in Italy, Spain, the US, South Korea, Greece, France, Belgium and Japan," Pew Research Centre reported in December 2021.

In my article, I note that the mood of anxiety over democracy in the developed world has a geopolitical angle. This is especially since United States President Joe Biden has described the contest between the US and China as one between democracy and autocracy.

The US, however, is finding it hard to claim moral leadership on this issue, as it is facing a democratic crisis of its own, after four years of a messy Trump administration that culminated in Trump supporters protesting the election that ousted him. The protests turned violent at Capitol Hill and left at least 15 dead and hundreds injured. Police violence against black Americans has also tinted America's democratic record, and just 17 per cent of those polled around the world by Pew Research Centre cited American democracy as "a good example to follow".

China has been quick to point out errors of America's political system, and even held itself up as a "full-process" and "true" democracy, whose leaders are more attuned to the needs of the people and consult widely on issues. This claim, however, is unlikely to win many supporters outside of China, as the Communist Party of China-ruled country lacks the basic one-person-one-vote system that defines democratic systems.

More ideological grandstanding on governance, and which political system is superior, can be expected in the months ahead.

What does this mean for Singapore?

As I note in my article, Singapore was pointedly excluded from the US-organised summit on democracy held in December. This can be seen as a comment from the US on Singapore's state of democracy - but countries with far lower democratic index scores (such as Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo) were invited.

As the summit was viewed as a meeting to rally allies to contain China, Singapore's exclusion was also convenient, as it is friendly with both countries and does not wish to have to choose between them.

Singaporeans watching the battle of words on democracy can take comfort that our political system has high approval ratings within the country. Pew Research Centre's Spring 2021 Global Attitudes Survey released last October showed that Singaporeans expressed the highest level of satisfaction with the way democracy is working at home - 82 per cent, compared with the overall median of 57 per cent. The survey covered nearly 19,000 people in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America on their social attitudes. The survey is done regularly but this was the first time Singapore was included.

The overall picture on democracy is that most people in developed countries feel democracy is not delivering, and they want to see change. A few countries, such as Singapore and New Zealand, buck the trend with high levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working at home.

What does it all mean? To sum up:

• In 2022, expect more word battles over democracy - the state of it, whether it works, and what works. Contest over superior governance systems will be part of the US-China rivalry.

• Dissatisfaction with democratic politics is widespread in the developed world - but belief in the ideals of democracy remains high. In other words, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. What needs fixing is the practice of democracy, not its ideals or values.

• Singaporeans should be proud of the country's system, with citizens expressing high levels of satisfaction with it, while wanting to see some reform.

In short, Singapore is a functioning democratic state and a work in progress.

This is a simple premise to remember as we watch the coming ideological battle over democracy unfold.

Read the full commentary here.