Heckuva job, Brownie
Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images Defenders of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown say that his staggeringly low popularity is the result of economic forces that have voters everywhere angry at their leaders. Not so fast, says the BBC. If you compare the net approval ratings (those who approve minus those who disapprove) for leaders around ...
Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Defenders of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown say that his staggeringly low popularity is the result of economic forces that have voters everywhere angry at their leaders. Not so fast, says the BBC. If you compare the net approval ratings (those who approve minus those who disapprove) for leaders around the world, Brown still comes out looking pretty bad.
Medvedev (Russia) +47
Rudd (Aus) +25
Berlusconi (Italy) +13
Merkel (Germany) +2
Sarkozy (France) -8
Harper (Can) -11
Bush (US) -33
Fukuda (Jap) -34
Brown (UK) -47
Ouch. Keep in mind that Yasuo Fukuda’s low popularity led to his resignation this month and that Bush’s approval ratings are among the lowest in American history.
As for Berlusconi and Medvedev, maintaining control over most of your country’s media certainly seems to help your image. An Economist blogger also quips about a “post-invasion bump” for the Russian president.
Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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