Monthly Archive: March 1999

BULLETINS “IISEPS NEWS” N 1 (11) MARCH

IISEPS News, N 1 (11), 1999 Content: Preface Youth and Civil Society: Dr. N. Efimova, IISEPS Youth Associations’ Greater Involvement in Politics as a Boomerang Effect of State Youth Policies Young People and Society, as Seen by Youth Leaders (IISEPS in absentia round table conference) Life in Our Time: First results of a national opinion …

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NATIONAL POLL 03’99

1. Title of the study: “Role of youth in the formation of civil society in Belarus”
2. Topics of thematic coverage: political, social, legal and economic factors of of strengthening youth participation in the formation of civil society in Belarus
3. The aim: to study the most important facilitators and obstacles to including of different groups of youth in the formation of civil society, to specify the difference of this factors for groups of youth and elder people
4. Descriptors: youth, civil society, socio-political positions and attitudes, electoral economic values, legal values, feeling for law and order, attitude to law
5. Comparability: most important questions were replicated
6. Geographical area: Belarus-national
7. Principal investigator: IISEPS
8. Polling organization: IISEPS, P.O.B. 219, Minsk, 220030, Belarus, e-mail: iiseps@iiseps.org
9. Fieldwork dates: 1999, March
10. Population sampled: 18+ years old residents of Belarus who are not currently in hospital, jail, military service
11. Sampling: clustered random
12. Sample size: 1666 respondents
13. Mode of interviews: face-to-face interview
14. Interviewers: part-time and university students
15. Control: selective control of interviewers
16. Related publications: more then 60 publications in mass media
17. Availability of the original data sets: contact with IISEPS
18. Source of information: IISEPS

 

MONEY AND PERSONAL RELATIONS RULE THE WORLD

Table 1 shows that the main driving force of Belarusian society, according to young people, is money and personal relations. Laws and the Constitution took the third and the fourth places respectively.

WHOM DO YOUNG PEOPLE BELIEVE?

The respondents were asked a question concerning their trust in various societal and state institutions. This trust is a major indicator of the health of society and understanding between the government and people. The responses were the following (Table 1).

TRADE UNIONS AS A “DRIVING BELT” OF THE STATE POLICIES

Economic crises and the deterioration of people’s living standards result in the activation of trade unions, which are not normally inclined to act. The state-run trade unions activate quickly when workers get slightly discontent, but if they lead the protests, they never go too far, finding excuses for the government, which was suggestedly not given something or cheated by someone. This was the situation in autumn-winter 1998: irrespective of all the strong threats, they never really organized any serious protests. Neither could all the efforts of the most active and unruly state-run trade unions, of agricultural machine producers and electronics workers help out of the situation.

WHO WILL GIVE US FOOD IN 10 YEARS?

In Belarus, much as elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, the problem “who will produce food for the country?” is a political problem. Normally the answer is “collective and state farms”, supported by the powerful agrarian lobby, which is unwilling to lose a source of state finance. The result is known to everyone – huge budgetary funds are spent and food products are still a deficit. However, the authorities like the idea and do not grudge the money spent from the budget because the system allows them to control people, who live in rural districts and get their guaranteed votes.

PRIVATE BUSINESS AND US

According to the results of the poll, 58.7% of respondents want to be employed in the public sector of the economy, and 30.0% in the private sector, although at present 51.6% of respondents work for state-run companies and 9.3% for private businesses. As it can be seen, people’s aspirations concerning the public sector almost match the real situation, but more people would like to work at a private business than do so now.

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF THE “BELARUSIAN ECONOMIC WONDER”?

Irrespective of the optimistic state propaganda, which advocates economic accomplishments gained in 1998 under the wise leadership of the Savior of the Slavs, most people are pessimistic about the state of the economy and their living standards. Official statistics claimed that real incomes went up by more than 20%. However, only 3.5% of respondents said their living standards improved during the past year, and 76.1% claimed they deteriorated! (Table 1). The situation with young respondents is better somewhat because they are naturally more active in earning their living.

WHAT KIND OF ECONOMY SHOULD WE HAVE?

The results of the poll show that over the last six months the number of proponents of a market economy has gone slightly down. In autumn 1998 they made up 74.6% of respondents, and in spring 1999, 67.4% (Table 1). At the same time, the number of people, who support the liberal model of the market economy (i.e. a market economy with little state regulation) went up 3.8%, while the number of people who advocate for a social democratic model went down 11%.
Table 1. Preferred economy (%)

FAREWELL TO RUSSIA!?

Late in 1998 presidents A. Lukashenko and B. Yeltsin signed a declaration on the further integration of Russia and Belarus. This declaration suggests the creation of a unified state, about which a referendum may be conducted in two countries. In February 1999 Russia’s Public Opinion Fund conducted a poll, willing to know how the Russians are going to vote in that referendum, if it is ever organized. During an IISEPS opinion poll, a similar question was asked. The results of the polls show that Belarusians are much less enthusiastic about integration than Russians (Table 1).