According to recent CRRC Georgia data, half of the population believes civil servants do not care what they think and do not have a say in government actions.
in fear of democracy Recession And as Georgians get more fed up politics Georgia — from opposition or ruling politicians — data from Caucasus Barometer 2021 Investigation It suggests that older people, women and those from poorer backgrounds feel particularly alienated from politics.
Education level and party preference seem to be related to the degree of political alienation someone perceives. However, contrary to popular opinion, young people and minorities do not report particularly high levels of political marginalization.
The Caucasus Barometer asked six questions that allowed us to examine voters’ feelings and attitudes towards the country’s political system and decision-making.
More than two-thirds of the population (69%) feel unqualified to participate in politics, 53% believe politics is too complex to understand, and half the population has no say in government actions. I don’t think so. (59%) and civil servants don’t care about their opinions (51%).
At the same time, a third of voters believe they have a good understanding of important political issues in their country, while 39% of the public think their vote makes no difference.
Who is more likely to be politically marginalized?
The six questions in the chart above boiled down to the Political Alienation Index. The index ranged from 0 for total political alienation to 12 for no political alienation. The index has an average score of 4.2, suggesting that citizens tend to feel alienated from the country’s political system.
Regression analyzes show that young people, men, people with higher levels of formal education, supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, and people from wealthy households are more likely to be in Georgia than older people, women, and people with lower levels of education. It suggests that they are less likely to feel alienated from politics. Opposition supporters, independent voters, and people from poor families.
Analysis shows that otherwise vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, women and the poor, feel particularly alienated from politics. Moreover, political alienation appears to be correlated with education and political preferences. In particular, it doesn’t matter if someone supports the Georgian dream.
At the same time, young people and ethnic minorities, who are often seen as politically apathetic and politically apathetic in Georgia, do not seem to feel particularly alienated from political processes and institutions. the reason is relatively higher level withdrawal Influence from political activity must be sought in other areas, not in the realm of feelings and attitudes toward politics.
NOTE: The data analysis above is based on an OLS regression model with the following variables: education/higher), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), wealth (additive index of ownership of 10 different items, proxy variable), ethnicity (Georgian ethnicity or ethnic minority), partisanship (Georgian dream, opposition , nonpartisan) /DK), political alienation index (0-12: 0-Complete political alienation, 12- Lack of political alienation).
The data used in this analysis are available here.
This article was written by CRRC Georgia researcher Givi Silagadze. The views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not represent the views of CRRC Georgia or its affiliates.