A TTITUDES ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS: AND PUBLIC OPINION IN E KRAINE XPECTATIONS U 2003 : P UBLIC O PINIONY IN U KRAINE Rakesh Sharma and 2003 International Foundation for Election Systems Nathan Van Dusen 1101 15th Street, N.W. 3rd Floor Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: 202.828.8507 Fax: 202.452.0804 www.IFES.org Prepared by IFES ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS: PUBLIC OPINION IN UKRAINE 2003 Prepared for the International Foundation for Election Systems Rakesh Sharma Nathan Van Dusen Sponsored By This Mission and report were made possible by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This material is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission; citation is appreciated. International Foundation for Election Systems, Washington, D.C. 20005 http://www.ifes.org Published February 2004 Attitudes and Expectations: Public Opinion in Ukraine 2003 Table of Contents I. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 II. Executive Summary.................................................................................................................3 III. Overall Satisfaction and Economic Situation........................................................................8 Opinions on the Economic Situation ......................................................................................................................8 Satisfaction with Overall Situation.......................................................................................................................10 Preferred Economic System .................................................................................................................................11 Privatization .........................................................................................................................................................13 Corruption............................................................................................................................................................15 IV. Attitudes toward Democracy ................................................................................................18 Democracy and Its Meaning in Ukraine ..............................................................................................................18 Rights....................................................................................................................................................................20 Rule of Law and the Legal System........................................................................................................................21 V. Attitudes toward Government Institutions .........................................................................23 Confidence in Institutions and Leaders ................................................................................................................23 Contact with Local Officials.................................................................................................................................24 Citizen Advisory Boards.......................................................................................................................................25 Local Services.......................................................................................................................................................25 VI. Interest in and Attitudes toward Politics.............................................................................27 Interest in Politics ................................................................................................................................................27 Political Efficacy ..................................................................................................................................................28 Voting ...................................................................................................................................................................30 Fairness of Elections ............................................................................................................................................31 Third Term for President Kuchma........................................................................................................................33 VII. Political Parties and NGOs ...................................................................................................35 Political Parties....................................................................................................................................................35 Civic Organizations and Participation.................................................................................................................38 VIII. Information Levels and Media .............................................................................................41 Information Levels................................................................................................................................................41 Sources of Information .........................................................................................................................................43 Media Safety.........................................................................................................................................................45 IX. Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................47 Appendix 1: Data Tables Appendix 2: Details of the Sample and Fieldwork Appendix 3: Regional Classifications Appendix 4: Focus Groups Final Report Map of Ukraine Attitudes and Expectations: Public Opinion in Ukraine 2003 Rakesh Sharma and Nathan Van Dusen International Foundation for Election Systems 1 I. Introduction This report contains findings from the latest survey and focus group research conducted in Ukraine by IFES. IFES’ public opinion research in Ukraine forms a vital contribution to the more than 50 survey and focus group projects IFES has conducted in more than 20 countries around the world. This research in Ukraine, as well as IFES public opinion research in other countries, seeks to provide relevant and reliable information on local opinions and attitudes to government officials, development professionals, political actors, academics, and others interested in democratic and political development. Since establishing an on-site presence in Kyiv in 1994, IFES has conducted 12 nationwide surveys of public opinion as well as 3 focus group projects. These studies have established a record of public opinion upon which to evaluate Ukraine’s progress towards developing a more democratic society. This record has helped shape donor assistance programs, as well as IFES’ technical assistance efforts, which are aimed at developing sustainable democratic electoral processes that meet the needs of an inclusive democratic state bound by the rule of law. The principal analysts for this latest research were IFES Applied Research Officer Rakesh Sharma and Senior Program Assistant Nathan Van Dusen. IFES Senior Program Officer Michael Svetlik and IFES Program Assistant Susan Smith provided programmatic and administrative support to the project. Interviewing and data processing was completed by TNS-Ukraine, under the direction of Oxana Bandurovych. For this year’s research, IFES was also assisted in many facets of the project by a prominent Ukrainian research NGO, Intellectual Perspectives (IP). IP worked with Sharma and Van Dusen to help contextualize the survey findings and aid in presenting the survey data through public presentations in Ukraine. IP also conducted the focus groups and prepared the report on the focus groups that is presented in Appendix 4. IFES would like to recognize Yuri Privalov, Director of IP and Tamila Voytenko, IP Sociologist for their contributions to this project. The current research relies heavily upon IFES’ cumulative experience with opinion research in Ukraine. The questionnaire is reflective of the information and experience garnered from all previous IFES research and technical assistance programs in Ukraine. Previous surveys have been conducted under the direction of Elehie Natalie Skoczylas, Gary A. Ferguson, and Thomas Carson. This report: • Analyzes key indicators of democratic development, including: confidence in government and judicial institutions, corruption, and political and economic reform; • Updates trend data on political efficacy and interest in politics collected by IFES beginning in 1994; • Examines attitudes toward political parties and NGOs and assesses support for political rights and civic participation; • Measures the level of contact with local officials and provides evaluations of local services; • Evaluates perceptions of information available on political and economic developments, as well as the overall performance of Ukrainian media; and • Summarizes variations in attitudes across social groups and geographic regions in Ukraine. Attitudes and Expectations: Public Opinion in Ukraine 2003 Rakesh Sharma and Nathan Van Dusen International Foundation for Election Systems 2 The report is comprised of seven sections. The Executive Summary provides technical details of the survey and focus group implementation and highlights key survey findings. Section III describes overall satisfaction levels with daily life