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Attitudes and Expectations: Public Opinion in Ukraine 2003

Eric Rudenshiold, Director, Europe & Eurasia, International Foundation for Election Systems, Washington, D.C.; Nathan Van Dusen , Program Associate, Europe & Eurasia, International Foundation for Election Systems, Washington, D.C.

Date & Time

Monday
May. 17, 2004
12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

Overview

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Eric Rudenshiold, Director, and Nathan Van Dusen, Program Associate, Europe & Eurasia, IFES, Washington, D.C., presented the results of their survey research on public opinion in Ukraine. They explained that IFES has been conducting annual surveys in Ukraine since 1994. These surveys measure Ukrainians' opinions on democracy, rights, and civil society, as well as their evaluation of the political and economic situation in their country. Rudenshiold argued that public opinion trends have important implications for Ukraine's political and economic development.

Overall, Ukrainians have a very negative view of the situation in their country, according to Van Dusen. In 2003, only 13 percent of respondents were somewhat or very satisfied with the situation in Ukraine. He argued that this is primarily due to economic concerns: the majority of respondents feel that Ukraine is in a bad economic situation that has little chance of improving. Van Dusen noted that in comparison with previous years, positive assessments of the situation in Ukraine have increased, but only slightly.

In assessing Ukraine's political system, over 60 percent of respondents labeled Ukraine as a non-democratic state. However, Van Dusen noted, Ukrainians view democracy differently than do people in the West. When respondents were asked to identify attributes of a democratic state, the most popular choices were "human rights" and a variety of economic attributes such as "provision of jobs" and "state support of pensioners." In addition, according to Van Dusen, the majority of Ukrainians agree with the statement "It is more important that leaders maintain order than protect freedoms." Ukrainians are more protective of individual freedoms than of collective freedoms. While only 21 percent of respondents believe that it is "never justified" for the state to limit the activities of political parties, 50 percent believe it is never justified to limit freedom of the press, and 52 percent believe that limiting citizens' freedom to protest is never justified.

There is some variation in these general trends between different demographic groups. According to Rudenshiold, younger Ukrainians are more in favor of democracy and a market economy, and are more oriented toward western Europe, than are older Ukrainians. Younger respondents are also more optimistic—they were more likely to describe Ukraine as a democracy and believe that their personal financial situations would improve in the future. However, Rudenshiold noted that younger Ukrainians are also more willing to accept certain illegal or dishonest practices, such as cheating on one's taxes or accepting a bribe.

Rudenshiold and Van Dusen described two paradoxical aspects of public opinion in Ukraine. First, Ukrainians feel alienated from politics, but are very likely to vote in elections. Only 14 percent of respondents agreed with the statement "people like you can have influence on the decisions made by government," and only 23 percent described themselves as supporters of a particular political party. Nevertheless, voter turnout in Ukraine is high, and 80 percent of respondents indicated that they are likely to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Second, most Ukrainians feel that there is some sort of censorship of the media, but trust for information in the media is high. For example, although 68 percent of respondents said that for journalists, being critical of the government was somewhat or very dangerous, 61 percent indicated that they have trust in the media.

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Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more

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