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Research projects
Democratic Reform and Leadership Assessment Survey
Public opinion is a cornerstone of democratic societies for it allows them to guage public support for current governing institutions. However, public opinion is difficult to act upon when ne cannot effectively measure it. In a lecture at Princeton University, Gallup (1939) argued that knowledge of the collective will of the public would increase the efficiency of democracy because “statesmen who know the true state of public opinion can then formulate plans with a sure knowledge of what the voting public is thinking.” In Lebanon, the measurement of publicopinion is often conducted by newspapers and media outlets that maintain particular political agendas. Objective and reliable academic public opinion polling remains absent. As such, an academically sponsored phone-polling center allows for a more objective and accuratereading of public opinion. Such a center provides the public with an outlet to evaluate the policies and performance of government decision makers. It also allows decision-makers to better understand their constituents by providing a basis to identify needs for programdevelopment. The permanent implementation of such a process contributes to an accountable and transparent government.
With this in mind, the “Democratic Reform and Leadership Assessment Survey” has been conducted during the month of January 2006 by thefollowing institutions:
- The Center for Democracy and Development at the American University of Technology, a local academic institution of higher learning. The center is under the supervision of Dr. Imad Salamey.
- Nahwa al-Muwatiniya, an independent, local NGO aiming to promote democracy and the improvement of civil society throughinclusive and educated engagement. The project coordinator is Rudy Jaafar.
Additionally, several other organizations and individuals are looking forward to provide stakeholders and citizens with the necessary information to be able to participate actively in decision-making.
Aims and Objectives
The purpose of this survey is to gauge Lebanese public opinion on important national issues essential for democratic development and reform. These issues cover the areas of public services, privatization, security, sovereignty, freedom, corruption, and international relations. The survey also polls the public on the most important area needed for reform in the country, including constitutional reform, electoral reform, media reform, and reform of party laws. Furthermore, the survey seeks to determine peoples’ opinions on how best to reform these areas.
The survey also seeks to determine the public’s views on leadership capacity building skills essential to carry out democratic reform. The public is asked to prioritize among four skills areas necessary for Lebanese leaders: public administration, conflict resolution, international relations, and human rights. Then, the survey probes public views on the specifics of each skill in need of further development. These four surveyed areas have been chosen because of their significance to the Lebanese polity and because they are often mentioned in various governmental and non-governmental publications as essential for modern democratic governing (See The Saniora Government Policy Guidelines – July 26, 2005).
Finally, the survey project examines the demographic differences in responses regarding democratic reforms and their implementation throughout the country. The differences to be explored are gender, religion, age, education, marital status, household size, household income, employment, or regional affiliation.
Results
1) Al-Balad newspaper published the project results in a full-page article on Monday, March 6, 2006. The article is available at the following web address (without graphs):
2) A substantive article intended for academic journal publication is currently being written.
3) Preparations are being made for appearances on TV shows in order to discuss the survey results.