Political scandals, corruption, and policy paralysis has just 38 percent of the population of India satisfied with the direction the country is heading.

According to U.S. based Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, the economy is weighing on people’s minds the most. While the mood is not as sour as it is in other parts of the world, it’s a bit worse than it was in 2010. This year, of the 26,210 respondents surveyed by Pew, a total of 49 percent say the economy is in good shape while 45 percent say the economy is in bad shape. The opinion was more upbeat last year, when 56 percent said the national economy was doing well.

Indians are getting more bearish, but remain more positive about their country’s economic conditions than people in most of the 17 countries surveyed in both 2011 and 2012 by the Global Attitudes Project.

Part of the survey asked respondents to give their views of other countries. Indians buy and large preferred the U.S. over Europe, Russia and China. A total of 41 percent viewed the U.S. favorably compared to 30 percent for Russia, 23 percent for China and 21 percent for Europe.