AMMAN -- Citizens believe that the level of democracy in the Kingdom improved in 2005, giving it an unprecedented 6.29 per cent out of 10 score, a public opinion poll showed Tuesday.
According to the poll, conducted by the Jordan University's Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), people's perception that the level of democracy has surpassed its midway status -- scores ranging between 4-5.7 out of 10 since 1993 when the first such CSS poll was conducted -- could be attributed to increased debate about public freedoms and the growing percentage of people boldly discussing controversial issues.
"One of the reasons why people felt democracy improved has to do with the intensity and maximisation of subjects and scope of debate on various issues including the relation between Parliament and the executive authority and the formation of Adnan Badran's government and the ensuing reshuffle," said CSS pollster Fares Braizat.
Polls conducted in 2003, 2004 had shown democracy was at a standstill. They also indicated that there was no major variation in the level of democracy between 1993-2004 -- scores hovered at around 5 out of 10.
This year's survey, however, noted that although people believed there was a slight improvement in the level of democracy, their rating remained in at the midway mark when compared to other countries.
According to Braizat, Jordanians perceive Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Syria as non-democratic countries, while the US and Israel are seen as democracies.
Jordan and Lebanon are seen as partly democratic or partly free. "The fact that Jordanians regard the US and Israel as democracies shows that people are not ideologically blind, but rather reflects fair judgement on the components of democracy," he said.
The poll is the 12th in a series carried out since 1993 by the CSS. It was conducted between August 26 and September 1, on a sample of 1,385 respondents to gauge public opinion on the country's democratic transformation and status.
Braizat noted that the perceived increase in the level of democracy is also reflected in the improvement within the indicators of democracy, mainly civil liberties and political rights.
The poll showed that people said freedom of expression and press freedoms as well as freedom to join political parties were guaranteed or safeguarded to an extent.
More specifically, those who said freedom of the press was guaranteed rose from 59 per cent in 2004 to 62 per cent this year, followed by 61 per cent (up from 56 per cent in 2004) of respondents who believed freedom of opinion (expression) was guaranteed. On freedom to join political parties, 43 per cent said this right was safeguarded, where as in 2004, 38 per cent of those polled said the same.
Although it nudged up by a margin, the percentage of those who believed that freedom to participate in demonstrations and sit-ins was safeguarded remained relatively low. The poll showed that just over a third of respondents or 39 per cent felt that freedom to participate in demonstrations and sit-ins was guaranteed.
According to the survey, a majority or three-quarters of Jordanians still fear punishment or retribution by the authorities if they make any criticism of the government. While this perception has been on a decline, the drop is slow. Present figures showed 77 per cent of respondents saying they couldn't publicly criticise the government for fear punishment to themselves, their families or their livelihoods. In 2003, the corresponding figures were 83.2 per cent and in 2004, 80.6 per cent.
Braizat attributes this perception to the lingering recollection of Jordan's martial law era and that consecutive governments have done little to change people's belief that they cannot speak their minds without being punished in one way or another. "The fear is based on a few instances, and the government must act to encourage people to become more proactive in public debate and engage in political activity."
Braizat noted, however, that the study showed that of those polled only 1.4 per cent said they were punished for participating in demonstrations and sit-ins.
Factors influencing the fear perception are education and income. The poll shows that the higher the level of education and income the less people are prone to fear punishment by the government. The study showed 93 per cent of the respondents who have no education or primary education fear punishment compared to 84 per cent who hold secondary education degrees and 72 per cent who hold higher education degrees.
Other democracy indicators include equality and justice, and economic conditions.
In regards to justice and equality 61 per cent said they believed there was equality while 64 per cent said there was justice, up from 55.9 per cent and 58 per cent respectively in 2004.
The survey also asked respondents what they believed should be the government's priorities, and what they thought of political parties and Parliament's performance.
Turning to citizens' priorities, respondents (18 years of age and above) were asked to select among five issues, and prioritise them. Their first choice was poverty and unemployment (54 per cent -- up by 2 per cent from 2004), second was corruption (28 per cent -- up by 1 per cent), third was the Palestinian issue ( 8.9 per cent compared to 17 per cent in 2004), and democracy and freedom of expression and the Iraqi issue both came fourth ( 1. 2 per cent). The responses are consistent with those of last year's poll.
On political parties, respondents indicated no change in their perception. Since 1996, people's evaluation of the parties has remained unchanged. This year 90 per cent of respondents surveyed did not think the existing parties were capable of representing their political, social and economic aspirations.
Asked whether any of the existing political parties is capable of forming a Cabinet, 82.4 per cent of respondents said no (compared to 84.2 per cent in 2004).
There has been a steep decline in the public's acknowledgement of the Islamic Action Front Party as representing their social, economic and political aspirations. In 2003, in a CSS poll conducted immediately after the June parliamentary elections, 14.7 per cent of respondents said the IAF came close to representing their aspirations. In 2004, that percentage dropped to 6.6 per cent, and in this year's poll only 4 per cent of respondents concurred with the perception.
For two consecutive years, 0.6 per cent of poll respondents said the National Constitutional Party (a centrist group) represented their interests. Other parties fell below the NCP with scores at 0.2 per cent.
The poll also showed that just less than half (49.8 per cent) of the respondents believe that members of Parliament exercise their authority in monitoring and questioning the government. In 2004, the percentage was 46.7. This year's poll again showed that most respondents (69 per cent) believed that deputies were more concerned with their own personal and familial affairs than in society's needs at large. "There is a downward trend in Parliament popularity among the public. People don't trust the Parliament as much as they used to in previous years," Braizat said.
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
© Jordan Times 2005
