tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373097672024-03-16T11:08:51.012+04:00Social Science in the CaucasusA string of social science snapshots, remarks, observations, data from the South Caucasus.HansGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02363857450625734125noreply@blogger.comBlogger925125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-33389239326345860672024-02-13T17:31:00.000+04:002024-02-13T17:31:27.125+04:00Young, in the city, and online: most Georgians use more than one social media platform<p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5588aa; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Zachary Fabos, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A CRRC Georgia survey found most Georgian respondents use more than one social media platform, with younger people and people living in cities using a greater variety of platforms. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">According to Georgia’s </span><a href="https://www.geostat.ge/en/modules/categories/106/information-and-communication-technologies-usage-in-households" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">National Statistics Office</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, 96% of Georgia’s internet users use social media. While social media’s popularity in Georgia is clear, which platforms are most used and who uses the most platforms? </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">According to the 2021 Caucasus Barometer survey, 68% of Georgians use the internet daily. The most frequently mentioned destinations for those online are Facebook, with 69% of survey participants using the site, followed by YouTube, with 61% of respondents using the platform. Use of other sites such as Instagram (26%), TikTok (19%), Odnoklassniki (6%), Twitter (5%), and Vkontakte (5%) </span><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2021ge/codebook/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">trails</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> in comparison. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">An analysis found the number of different platforms respondents reported using, with the data suggesting that the average number is two.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">When this data is broken down, it shows that among demographic factors, the strongest predictor of using a diversity of platforms is age. On average, people aged 18-34 use three platforms while those 55+ use only one, controlling for other factors. Those aged 35-54 use two platforms, controlling for other factors. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Aside from age, the number of platforms someone uses is also associated with settlement type. People living in rural settlements use one platform, while those in Tbilisi and other urban settlements use two on average, controlling for other factors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Employment status, ethnicity, education level, and sex are not correlated with the number of platforms a person uses.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Predicted-number-of-platforms-used.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41464" decoding="async" height="667" sizes="(max-width: 1003px) 100vw, 1003px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Predicted-number-of-platforms-used.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Predicted-number-of-platforms-used.png 1003w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Predicted-number-of-platforms-used-300x200.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Predicted-number-of-platforms-used-768x511.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1003" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above pattern holds across the different platforms asked about on the survey — young people (18-34) are more likely than people in older age groups to use each platform asked about on the survey, controlling for other factors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41463" decoding="async" height="521" sizes="(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png 977w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Do-you-use-social-media-platform-300x160.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/Do-you-use-social-media-platform-768x410.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="977" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above data shows that young people both use a more diverse set of social media platforms than older people, while also using each and every social media platform asked about more often than people 35 and older.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Zachary Fabos, a Researcher at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: The analysis in this article makes use of logistic regression analysis. The analysis included gender (male, female), age group (18-34, 35-54, and 55+), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), education (secondary/ secondary technical/ lower, and tertiary), ethnicity (ethnic Georgian, ethnic minority), employment (not employed, employed), and a wealth index (0-10), as predictor variables. </i></p><p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The data used in this article is available</i><span style="max-width: 100%;"> </span><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2021ge/codebook/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">here</i></a><i style="max-width: 100%;">.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-71488136123444093732024-02-06T17:59:00.006+04:002024-02-06T17:59:54.575+04:00Does Georgia’s public want gender-balanced politics?<p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5588aa; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Elene Ergeshidze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">CRRC Georgia surveyed the Georgian public on attitudes towards gender equality in politics and obstacles faced by women in politics in Georgia. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Gender equality in politics is an important issue globally, and Georgian policy on the issue has been developing in recent years. </span><a href="https://civil.ge/archives/524987" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">Georgia introduced mandatory gender quotas</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> for proportional party lists in 2020, extending this provision until 2032. The </span><a href="https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/1557168?publication=79" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">legislation</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> stipulates that at least one out of four candidates submitted to the Central Election Commission, and provides financial support to parties that nominate more women. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite these policy changes, much remains to be done to ensure gender equality in practice. In the 2020 parliamentary elections, only three political parties and one electoral bloc benefited from the financial incentive mechanism for nominating more female candidates than the mandatory gender quotas required. A </span><a href="https://www.undp.org/georgia/publications/electoral-gender-quotas" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">study</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> on mandatory gender quotas in Georgia found that in 2022, women still made up only 19% of Georgia’s parliament. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Harassment directed at politicians is also a significant barrier. A CRRC </span><a href="https://crrc.ge/uploads/tinymce/documents/Completed-projects/NDI_FACEBOOK_REPORT_23March2021_ENG.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">study</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> found that female politicians in Georgia more frequently faced online violence (abusive and harassing comments) related to their personal life than male candidates and politicians, in the two months before the 2020 parliamentary elections. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite those challenges, data from the NDI and CRRC October 2023 survey suggest that the public’s attitudes are becoming more approving of gender equality in politics.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Two thirds of those surveyed believed that female and male politicians represented their interests equally. This marked a 10 percentage point increase compared to March 2023, and an 18 point increase compared with October 2014, when CRRC first asked the survey question. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41303" decoding="async" height="1030" sizes="(max-width: 1420px) 100vw, 1420px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2.png 1420w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2-300x218.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2-1024x743.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart1-2-768x557.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1420" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The survey also asked respondents what they believed were the largest obstacles preventing women in Georgia from engaging in politics. Respondents were allowed to name up to three issues. </span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-353584539" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7682020446223613" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="8318230685" data-ad-status="unfilled" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 221); color: #828282; display: block; height: 0px; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><div aria-label="Advertisement" id="aswift_1_host" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; display: inline-block; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 696px;" tabindex="0" title="Advertisement"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" allowtransparency="true" browsingtopics="true" data-google-container-id="a!2" data-google-query-id="CMCv1_brloQDFbL8_QUdxX0LAg" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="0" hspace="0" id="aswift_1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_1" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" scrolling="no" src="https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-7682020446223613&output=html&h=174&slotname=8318230685&adk=4126817332&adf=242375117&pi=t.ma~as.8318230685&w=696&fwrn=4&lmt=1707226922&rafmt=11&format=696x174&url=https%3A%2F%2Foc-media.org%2Ffeatures%2Fdatablog-does-georgias-public-want-gender-balanced-politics%2F&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiOC4wLjAiLCJ4ODYiLCIiLCIxMjEuMC42MTY3LjEzOSIsbnVsbCwwLG51bGwsIjY0IixbWyJOb3QgQShCcmFuZCIsIjk5LjAuMC4wIl0sWyJHb29nbGUgQ2hyb21lIiwiMTIxLjAuNjE2Ny4xMzkiXSxbIkNocm9taXVtIiwiMTIxLjAuNjE2Ny4xMzkiXV0sMF0.&dt=1707226924726&bpp=24&bdt=1946&idt=1014&shv=r20240201&mjsv=m202401300101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=1&correlator=1162995531297&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=742964594.1707226924&ga_sid=1707226926&ga_hid=434333626&ga_fc=1&rplot=4&u_tz=240&u_his=1&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=738&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=8&adx=203&ady=2289&biw=1349&bih=651&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759875%2C44759926%2C44759837%2C44798934%2C95320868%2C95324154%2C95324160%2C21065724&oid=2&pvsid=1102868236498605&tmod=625741013&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C738%2C1366%2C651&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CpoeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&td=1&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDFd&nt=1&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&dtd=7138" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; max-width: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 696px;" vspace="0" width="696"></iframe></div></ins></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The most frequently named obstacles were family responsibilities (19%), a lack of self-confidence (13%), and women having no interest in politics (11%). One in ten (10%) reported the perception in the public that there was no place for women in politics was an obstacle, and 9% believed women were hindered by a lack of family support. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, these attitudes have also changed in the past decade. There was a nine percentage point drop in the share of those who named family responsibilities as an obstacle compared to 2014. The share reporting that women had a lack of interest in politics also decreased by seven percentage points. The percentage of respondents who named a lack of relevant experience and education halved, moving from 16% to 7% and 18% to 9%, respectively. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, there was also a seven percentage point increase in the share of respondents who stated that women face no barriers to engagement in politics since 2014. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41304" decoding="async" height="1033" sizes="(max-width: 1423px) 100vw, 1423px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1.png 1423w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1-300x218.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1-1024x743.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/02/chart2-1-768x558.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1423" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above data shows substantial progress toward greater acceptance of gender equality in politics. </span></p><p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite the belief that some issues, such as family responsibilities and a lack of self-confidence, remain barriers preventing women from entering politics, the decreasing percentage of respondents citing these as obstacles suggests a changing landscape in the country. </span></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-84625829881750261072024-01-30T16:29:00.001+04:002024-01-30T16:30:54.423+04:00Trust and political independence in Georgia’s interior ministry<p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5588aa; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Tinatin Bandzeladze</i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>,</i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i> </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>a senior Researcher at CRRC-Georgia </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>and Mariam Kobaladze, a senior Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A CRRC survey found that trust in Georgia’s Interior Ministry and the police is closely tied to perception of the ministry’s political independence, or lack thereof. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In summer 2022, CRRC Georgia and the Social Justice Center partnered on a nationwide public opinion </span><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/sjc2022ge/codebook/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">survey on state and personal security</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">. It found that while the Interior Ministry was one of the most trusted institutions in the country, many respondents were concerned that the ministry lacks transparency and political impartiality.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgia’s Interior Ministry is largely made up of and closely associated with the country’s police, with police officers often seen as representatives of the ministry. Previous research has demonstrated that police need public trust to effectively carry out their mandate to fight crime and maintain public </span><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21515581.2022.2155659" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">safety</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">According to the 2022 survey, a majority of the Georgian public trust the Interior Ministry. About two thirds (65%) of the public has full or partial trust in the ministry. This is lower than that of the Defence Ministry (68%), but outperforms the Prime Minister (58%), the State Security Service (59%), the President (51%), and the Parliament (46%). </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41136" decoding="async" height="1031" sizes="(max-width: 1422px) 100vw, 1422px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust.jpg 1422w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust-300x218.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust-1024x742.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/1chart_how-much-do-you-trust_distrust-768x557.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1422" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Trust in the Interior Ministry varies with a number of social and demographic characteristics.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Residents of Tbilisi are less likely to fully trust the Interior Ministry than residents of other cities and people in rural areas. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Trust in the ministry is also associated with party preferences. People who support the ruling Georgian Dream party are more inclined to fully trust the ministry than supporters of opposition parties and those who support no party. Almost half of ruling party supporters fully trust the Interior Ministry. </span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-1995821733" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7682020446223613" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="8318230685" data-ad-status="unfilled" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 221); color: #828282; display: block; height: 0px; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><div aria-label="Advertisement" id="aswift_1_host" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; display: inline-block; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 696px;" tabindex="0" title="Advertisement"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" allowtransparency="true" browsingtopics="true" data-google-container-id="a!2" data-google-query-id="CIfG2fOJhYQDFXAIogMdiFIMfA" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="0" hspace="0" id="aswift_1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_1" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" scrolling="no" src="https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-7682020446223613&output=html&h=174&slotname=8318230685&adk=998128747&adf=3185699757&pi=t.ma~as.8318230685&w=696&fwrn=4&lmt=1706616501&rafmt=11&format=696x174&url=https%3A%2F%2Foc-media.org%2Ffeatures%2Fdatablog-trust-and-political-independence-in-georgias-interior-ministry%2F&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiMTIwLjAuNjA5OS4yMjUiLG51bGwsMCxudWxsLCI2NCIsW1siTm90X0EgQnJhbmQiLCI4LjAuMC4wIl0sWyJDaHJvbWl1bSIsIjEyMC4wLjYwOTkuMjI1Il0sWyJHb29nbGUgQ2hyb21lIiwiMTIwLjAuNjA5OS4yMjUiXV0sMF0.&dt=1706616502705&bpp=5&bdt=1491&idt=566&shv=r20240124&mjsv=m202401250101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D676f225b8fad6d87%3AT%3D1704889277%3ART%3D1706273156%3AS%3DALNI_MbSo_ygCA5a4wi5_pTWgTJaWYkE-Q&gpic=UID%3D00000d3f1b4761b3%3AT%3D1704889277%3ART%3D1706273156%3AS%3DALNI_Mbl7hFp6tOfTAQtG2XbxfjlZ41gsg&eo_id_str=ID%3Dd185ed62ff1ecbc1%3AT%3D1706259533%3ART%3D1706273156%3AS%3DAA-AfjazKeguEcMk2QsB3AhYEXqN&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=1&correlator=1462671212929&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=873951183.1704889276&ga_sid=1706616503&ga_hid=1854064217&ga_fc=1&rplot=4&u_tz=240&u_his=1&u_h=864&u_w=1536&u_ah=834&u_aw=1536&u_cd=24&u_sd=1.25&dmc=8&adx=288&ady=2252&biw=1519&bih=747&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31079437%2C31080697%2C95322195%2C95320888%2C95321626%2C95323007%2C31078663%2C31078665%2C31078668%2C31078670&oid=2&pvsid=3902364552576884&tmod=761165457&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1536%2C0%2C1536%2C834%2C1536%2C747&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CpoeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&cms=2&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&td=1&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDNd&nt=1&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&dtd=584" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; max-width: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 696px;" vspace="0" width="696"></iframe></div></ins></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Ethnic minorities fully trust the Interior Ministry at nearly twice the rate of ethnic Georgians. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Other demographic characteristics do not predict trust in the ministry.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41137" decoding="async" height="1031" sizes="(max-width: 1422px) 100vw, 1422px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart.jpg 1422w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart-300x218.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart-1024x742.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2chart-768x557.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1422" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Research by others </span><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21515581.2022.2155659" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">suggests</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> that trust in the police is connected more to perceptions of police fairness than with perceptions of police effectiveness in dealing with crime. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In relation to that, the study also asked about whether the public perceived the Interior Ministry as patriotic, professional, impartial, and transparent. The surveyed respondents viewed the ministry as patriotic (23%) and professional (23%) more frequently than they perceived it to be impartial (15%) and transparent (14%). </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above opinions are associated with trust in the Interior Ministry. Those that think these characteristics fully describe the ministry, also nearly unanimously trust it. In contrast, majorities of those that do not think each characteristic describes the ministry also mistrust it. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41138" decoding="async" height="1031" sizes="(max-width: 1422px) 100vw, 1422px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart.jpg 1422w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart-300x218.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart-1024x742.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/3-chart-768x557.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1422" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Respondents were also asked if they believed the Interior Ministry was independent from politics. Only 9% of those surveyed felt that the Interior Ministry was fully independent from political influence, while 23% believed it was more independent than dependent. On the other hand, 47% reported believing that the ministry had no political independence or it was more politically ‘dependent’ than independent. The remaining 21% did not know or refused to answer the question. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data indicate that opinions regarding political independence strongly predicted trust in the ministry. While there was a 62% chance an individual would fully or partially distrust the Interior Ministry if they believed it was not independent at all, the likelihood dropped to 2% among those who believed it was fully independent. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41139" decoding="async" height="1031" sizes="(max-width: 1422px) 100vw, 1422px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart.png 1422w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart-300x218.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart-1024x742.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/4chart-768x557.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1422" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While a majority of Georgians reported trusting the Interior Ministry, and thereby the police, in 2022, relatively few reported they were transparent and impartial, with only a third of respondents viewing them as politically independent. A belief that the ministry lacks independence as well as a lack of belief that it is transparent, accountable, professional, patriotic, impartial, and respects human rights are strong predictors of whether people trust the institution.</span></p><p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: This blog makes use of ordinal logistic regression analysis. The dependent variable was trust in the MIA, with don’t know and refuse to answer responses removed. The independent variables included: sex, age, employment status, level of education, a wealth index, settlement type, political sympathy and ethnic identity. </i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-56536662373278540922024-01-23T17:59:00.001+04:002024-01-23T17:59:54.456+04:00Obstacles to accessing Georgia’s courts<p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5588aa; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Salome Dolidze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. </i></span></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A CRRC Georgia survey investigated who considers and who pursues litigation in Georgia, and the obstacles people face in doing so. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgia’s court system faces significant issues, with reports suggesting that </span><a href="https://democracyindex.ge/uploads_script/studies/tmp/phpB8XAL1.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">long delays</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, access to the legal system, and overloaded caseloads are among the barriers that prevent citizens from using the courts. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">A 2021 Social Justice Center </span><a href="https://socialjustice.org.ge/uploads/products/pdf/Access_to_Justice_in_Georgia_1632406837.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">report</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> noted that geography, the physical accessibility of buildings, a lack of legal awareness and empowerment, and other physical, financial, cultural, and social barriers presented challenges for large segments of Georgian society. A recent CRRC Georgia survey looks specifically at who goes to court and who considers it, but ultimately doesn’t, and the challenges both groups face in their pursuit of justice. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Overall, 4% of those surveyed reported they went to the courts over the six years prior to the survey, and a further 4% reported that they considered starting litigation but decided not to. Among those who went to court, 71% were there for civil litigation, 17% for criminal cases, and 12% for administrative legal disputes.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data suggest there are a number of differences between social and demographic groups in terms of who goes to court.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Those who had tertiary education were more likely to have started litigation than those without. People living in urban areas outside of Tbilisi were more likely to have considered starting litigation, but ultimately refrained from doing so, than those living in the capital. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Other social and demographic variables such as sex, ethnicity, employment status and wealth were not associated with whether or not someone considered starting litigation or actually did so. </span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-1547375896" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7682020446223613" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="8318230685" data-ad-status="unfilled" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 221); color: #828282; display: block; height: 0px; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><div aria-label="Advertisement" id="aswift_1_host" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; display: inline-block; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 696px;" tabindex="0" title="Advertisement"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" allowtransparency="true" browsingtopics="true" data-google-container-id="a!2" data-google-query-id="CID8mf3O84MDFb2S6QUd_jAHUQ" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="0" hspace="0" id="aswift_1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_1" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" scrolling="no" src="https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-7682020446223613&output=html&h=174&slotname=8318230685&adk=3455770432&adf=4069404862&pi=t.ma~as.8318230685&w=696&fwrn=4&lmt=1706016566&rafmt=11&format=696x174&url=https%3A%2F%2Foc-media.org%2Ffeatures%2Fdatablog-obstacles-to-accessing-georgias-courts%2F&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiMTIwLjAuNjA5OS4yMjUiLG51bGwsMCxudWxsLCI2NCIsW1siTm90X0EgQnJhbmQiLCI4LjAuMC4wIl0sWyJDaHJvbWl1bSIsIjEyMC4wLjYwOTkuMjI1Il0sWyJHb29nbGUgQ2hyb21lIiwiMTIwLjAuNjA5OS4yMjUiXV0sMF0.&dt=1706016567165&bpp=3&bdt=1078&idt=622&shv=r20240118&mjsv=m202401180101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D676f225b8fad6d87%3AT%3D1704889277%3ART%3D1705925501%3AS%3DALNI_MbSo_ygCA5a4wi5_pTWgTJaWYkE-Q&gpic=UID%3D00000d3f1b4761b3%3AT%3D1704889277%3ART%3D1705925501%3AS%3DALNI_Mbl7hFp6tOfTAQtG2XbxfjlZ41gsg&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=1&correlator=4647793735583&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=873951183.1704889276&ga_sid=1706016568&ga_hid=806366388&ga_fc=1&rplot=4&u_tz=240&u_his=1&u_h=864&u_w=1536&u_ah=834&u_aw=1536&u_cd=24&u_sd=1.25&dmc=8&adx=288&ady=1714&biw=1519&bih=747&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=95320239%2C44759876%2C44759927%2C44808397%2C31080409%2C95320888%2C95321626%2C95321861%2C95322164%2C31078663%2C31078665%2C31078668%2C31078670&oid=2&pvsid=4397650346888613&tmod=34623024&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1536%2C0%2C1536%2C834%2C1536%2C747&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CpoeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&td=1&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDNd&nt=1&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&dtd=2631" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; max-width: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 696px;" vspace="0" width="696"></iframe></div></ins></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40955" decoding="async" height="990" sizes="(max-width: 1650px) 100vw, 1650px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation.png 1650w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation-300x180.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation-1024x614.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation-768x461.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-Starting-Litigation-1536x922.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1650" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40956" decoding="async" height="990" sizes="(max-width: 1650px) 100vw, 1650px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation.png 1650w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation-300x180.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation-1024x614.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation-768x461.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Probability-of-considering-Litigation-1536x922.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1650" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data also provided insight into the main challenges people faced in Georgia’s court system, as well as the reasons why people ultimately decided not to use the courts.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">When people who had actually engaged in litigation were asked about difficulties they had encountered during that process, a majority of respondents (52%) stated that the litigation process takes too long. Another significant concern was the cost associated with litigation, which was cited by 34% of respondents that went to court. In addition, 20% highlighted the difficulty of finding an affordable lawyer, with another 12% stating that finding a qualified lawyer was a challenge. Legal expertise can, of course, be critical to navigate the complexities of the legal system, and ensuring a fair and just outcome. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The lack of legal expertise amongst ordinary citizens (7%) was highlighted infrequently. Approximately one fifth of respondents (21%) mentioned that they encountered no difficulties in the litigation process.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40957" decoding="async" height="1280" sizes="(max-width: 1748px) 100vw, 1748px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3.png 1748w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3-300x220.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3-1024x750.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3-768x562.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-2-3-1536x1125.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1748" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">When respondents who had considered starting litigation, but not done so were asked why they had chosen not to go to court, a number of key factors stood out. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">A lack of trust in the judicial system was the most commonly given reason, with 56% of respondents identifying this as a significant deterrent. Another prominent concern for those who refrained from legal action was the cost of litigation, mentioned by 33% of respondents. The length of court trials was also cited by 27% of those who ultimately chose not to pursue litigation. Other significant concerns included lacking knowledge or awareness of legal matters (17%).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40958" decoding="async" height="1322" sizes="(max-width: 1844px) 100vw, 1844px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1.png 1844w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1-300x215.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1-1024x734.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1-768x551.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/Chart-3-1-1536x1101.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1844" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">One in twenty Georgians have considered going to court in the last six years, and a further one in twenty went to court. Among those who went to court, prolonged court procedures, financial constraints, and a lack of trust in the judicial system were cited as significant barriers to accessing justice in Georgia.</span></p><p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The data used in this article is available </i><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">here</i></a><i style="max-width: 100%;">. </i><i style="max-width: 100%;">The regression analysis used in this article included the following variables: Age (18-34, 35-54, 55+); Sex (male or female); Settlement type (Tbilisi, other urban, rural); Education level (tertiary or not); Ethnicity (Ethnic Georgian or ethnic minority); Employment status (employed or not working); Wealth index (A simple additive index of ownership of a number of durable goods within a household).</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-7768392211834471452024-01-10T12:17:00.001+04:002024-01-11T12:23:25.143+04:00Can political parties in Georgia survive abandonment by their leaders?<div><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Givi Silagadze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The study was financially supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).</i></span></strong><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; max-width: 100%;"> </i><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of NED, CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A year before Georgia’s general elections, a CRRC survey found that less than half of surveyed Georgian partisans would remain loyal to their favoured party if its leader were to establish a new party, with supporters of the ruling party more likely to stick with their party than supporters of the opposition. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In recent years, political experts and analysts have </span><a href="https://eecmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%A5%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%97%E1%83%95%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%9E%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98%E1%83%99%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98-%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%93%E1%83%A8%E1%83%90%E1%83%A4%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98_%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A0%E1%83%94-%E1%83%92%E1%83%90%E1%83%9B%E1%83%9D%E1%83%AA%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B%E1%83%90_2020_EECMD.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">argued</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> that parties in Georgia function more on the basis of their political leaders’ popularity, rather than as genuine political organisations. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">This would suggest that if political leaders left their party and established a new one, a substantial portion of their voters would go with them. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">To test this hypothesis, CRRC Georgia conducted a public opinion poll in October 2023, a year before Georgia’s next general elections. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data suggests that only four out of ten partisans would stay with their party if its leader left</span><span style="max-width: 100%;">. </span><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party are more likely to stay with their party, while opposition supporters more likely to be unsure or follow their party’s leader.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Respondents were asked to identify the political party with which they identified most closely. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Those respondents who named a political party (35% of respondents to the survey) were then asked to imagine a scenario in which a leader of their favoured party decided to cut ties with the party and establish a new party. Respondents were then asked to report how they would vote—would they still vote for their favoured party, or for the one that had been newly established?</span></p><table style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; max-width: 100%;"><tbody style="max-width: 100%;"><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">Leader</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">Party</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Bidzina Ivanishvili</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgian Dream</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Mikheil Saakashvili</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">United National Movement</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Giorgi Gakharia</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">For Georgia</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Zurab Girchi Japaridze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Girchi More Freedom</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Mamuka Khazaradze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Lelo</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Irma Inashvili</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Alliance of Patriots</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Shalva Natelashvili</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Labour Party</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Zurab Makharadze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Conservative Movement - Alt Info </span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Giorgi Vashadze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Strategy Aghmashenebeli</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Giga Bokeria</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">European Georgia</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Aleko Elisashvili</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Citizens</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Elene Khoshtaria</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Droa</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Iago Khvichia</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Girchi</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Anna Dolidze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">For the People</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Nino Burjanadze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Democratic Movement</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Zviad Dzidziguri</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Conservative Party</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Fridon Injia</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">European Socialists</span></td></tr><tr style="max-width: 100%;"><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Levan Vasadze</span></td><td style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">ERI</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;">Four out of ten partisans (39%) said they would still vote for their favoured party. Approximately every fifth partisan voter (18%) said they would change their partisan preference and would vote for the new party. A plurality of partisans (43%) said they did not know which party they would vote for or refused to answer. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40776" decoding="async" height="600" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1.png 1500w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1-300x120.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1-1024x410.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-1-768x307.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1500" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Further statistical analysis shows that some groups are more likely to stick with their favoured party even when its leader launches a new political venture. People with vocational education are less likely to stick with their favoured party than people who have a lower or higher level of formal education.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Party affiliation is also associated with whether or not voters are willing to stick with their current preferred party. Supporters of the ruling party are 27 percentage points more likely to say they would still vote for Georgian Dream if the party’s founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, established a new party than opposition supporters when asked the same question regarding their parties’ leaders.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40777" decoding="async" height="600" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2.png 1500w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2-300x120.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2-1024x410.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-2-768x307.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1500" /></a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Regarding whether voters are willing to follow their party’s leaders, similar trends emerge. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Opposition supporters were 16 percentage points more likely to report they would vote for a party newly founded by their party’s leaders than Georgian Dream supporters.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">People with lower levels of formal education were more likely to follow their party’s leader than people with higher levels of formal education. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Men were also more likely to follow a leader to a new party than women.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40778" decoding="async" height="600" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3.png 1500w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3-300x120.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3-1024x410.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-3-768x307.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1500" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, opposition supporters were also 17 percentage points more likely to be unsure of how they would vote if the leader of their favoured party established a new party compared with ruling party supporters.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">People with higher education and vocational education are more likely to be unsure than people with lower levels of formal education. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40779" decoding="async" height="600" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4.png 1500w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4-300x120.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4-1024x410.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2024/01/new-4-768x307.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1500" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above data supports the idea that Georgian political parties are at least partially driven by their leaders, with only four out of ten partisans reporting they would stick with their favoured party if its leader launched a new political venture. Moreover, one in eight ruling party supporters and one in three opposition supporters reported they would follow their leader to a new party. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, multiple other possible explanations for the data likely explain the differences between ruling party and opposition supporters. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">First, the line between the ruling party and the state is often </span><a href="https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/1/4/480500.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">blurred</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, meaning that Georgian Dream’s supporters might continue to support the party on the basis of it remaining in power. Second, at the time of the survey, Bidzina Ivanishvili had formally distanced himself from politics. As a result, some Georgian Dream supporters might have supported other leaders within the party and the party’s policies, rather than its founder. Finally, many of the opposition parties which the public reported supporting were founded by former members of the UNM who left or are otherwise dominated by a single personality. In turn, many of their voters are likely already voting for the party based on its leader.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite the above, ties appear to be stronger to the party itself for Georgian Dream supporters than for opposition supporters. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: The above data analysis is based on logistic regression models, which included the following variables: age group (18-34, 35-54, 55+), sex (male or female), education (completed secondary/lower, vocational, higher), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), employment status (not working, working in the private sector, working in the public sector), religious attendance (regularly, on special occasions, rarely or never), and party identification (Georgian Dream, Opposition). </i></p></div>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-89614656768758929272023-12-12T15:15:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:22:28.052+04:00Who expects that Georgia will receive candidate status?<p><i style="color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)" face="Ubuntu, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, </span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bolder;">a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Dustin Gilbreath, a non-resident senior Fellow at CRRC-Georgia, and Kristina Vacharadze, Programmes Director at CRRC- Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder;">A CRRC survey found that Georgians who want EU candidate status and those who feel positively about the EU are more optimistic about Georgia’s chances of joining the EU, along with older people and those not working in the private sector. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">On 8 November, the European Commission </span><a href="https://oc-media.org/european-commission-greenlights-eu-candidacy-for-georgia/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">recommended</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> that Georgia receive candidate status in the bloc. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Polls conducted by CRRC Georgia prior to the announcement suggested that only </span><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-only-a-third-of-georgians-believe-the-country-will-obtain-candidate-status/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">33%</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> of Georgians believed that the country would obtain candidate status. </span><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-only-a-third-of-georgians-believe-the-country-will-obtain-candidate-status/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">Previous analysis</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> has shown that Georgian Dream supporters were more optimistic about the status being granted, likely at least partially reflecting confidence in the party which they support. But, aside from partisanship, what else predicted whether someone believed Georgia would gain candidate status prior to the European Commission’s announcement? </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">With regards to social and demographic variables, a few patterns stand out. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Controlling for other factors, older people (55+) were ten points more likely to report that Georgia would gain membership than those 54 and under. People working in the private sector were, on the other hand, less likely to report they believed Georgia would gain candidate status than people working in the public sector or not working. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40247" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 935px) 100vw, 935px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-1.png 935w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-1-300x145.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-1-768x371.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="935" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Whether someone wanted the EU to grant Georgia candidate status was a strong predictor of whether they believed the EU would grant it prior to the announcement. A person who did not support Georgia joining the EU had a 17% chance of believing candidate status would be granted. By comparison, someone who fully supported Georgia’s attempt to join the EU had a 43% chance of believing that Georgia would receive candidate status.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-2-2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40248" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 934px) 100vw, 934px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-2-2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-2-2.png 934w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-2-2-300x145.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-2-2-768x372.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="934" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data suggested that people’s perceptions of the European Union similarly aligned with their predictions. Those who had a very positive perception of the EU had a 50% chance of reporting that they believed Georgia would gain candidate status. In comparison, someone with a very negative view had a 20% chance of believing the country would receive candidate status. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-3.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40249" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-3.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-3.png 930w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-3-300x146.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Chart-3-768x373.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="930" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above data suggest that Georgians who had positive attitudes towards the EU also tended to be optimistic in their expectations regarding the institution’s decision. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: The data in this article come from a series of regression models. The first contains the following demographic variables: sex (male or female), age group (18-34, 35-54, 55+), education level (high school or less, vocational education, or higher education), and employment status (not working, works in the private sector, works in the public sector). The following models added 1) whether or not someone supported Georgia’s candidate status, and 2) whether or not the respondent reported a positive or negative perception of the EU.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Dustin Gilbreath, a non-resident senior fellow at CRRC Georgia. The article reflects the views of the author alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or the National Endowment for Democracy.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-36362885408383227242023-12-05T12:12:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:22:12.321+04:00Georgians more aware of EU membership status than ever before<p><i><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)" face="Ubuntu, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px;">a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Anano Kipiani, a researcher at CRRC-Georgia, and Kristina Vacharadze, Programmes Director at CRRC- Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></p><p><span face="Lato-Regular" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder;">In the months prior to the EU’s announcement of whether Georgia will receive candidate status, more Georgians were aware than ever before that the country was not yet a member of the EU.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While surveys have consistently shown that a large majority of Georgians would vote for the country’s membership in the European Union, they have also previously shown that large shares of Georgians — up to one in six — believed that the country was already a member of the EU. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Newly released data from the 2023 CRRC Georgia and Europe Foundation survey on ‘Knowledge of and attitudes towards the EU in Georgia’, collected in the spring and summer of 2023, shows that more Georgians are aware that the country is not a member state than ever before. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Survey respondents were asked whether Georgia is currently a member of the EU. The vast majority — 92% — reported that Georgia is not currently a member. This is nine percentage points higher than recorded in any other year of the survey, since 2009. It is a full 22 points higher than during the first wave of the survey in 2009.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In 2023, only 3% reported that Georgia was already a member, compared with 16% in 2017 and 2019. The closest year to the current levels was in 2015, when only 5% reported that Georgia was already part of the EU. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">There has also been a corresponding decline in the share reporting uncertainty about whether Georgia is or is not a member of the EU. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In contrast to 2015, when 12% of the public was uncertain about Georgia’s membership status, only 5% were uncertain about whether Georgia is a member of the EU in 2023.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-1.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40120" height="534" sizes="(max-width: 942px) 100vw, 942px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-1.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-1.jpg 942w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-1-300x170.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-1-768x435.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="942" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While more people are now aware of Georgia’s membership status, interest in getting more information about the EU itself has remained largely consistent between 2011 and 2023, with small fluctuations between years. For example, since 2021, interest in getting more information increased by five percentage points.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-in-reality.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40121" height="700" sizes="(max-width: 965px) 100vw, 965px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-in-reality.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-in-reality.jpg 965w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-in-reality-300x218.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-in-reality-768x557.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="965" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, interest varies between different demographic groups. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Young people (18-34) are 17 percentage points more likely to be interested in information about the EU than 35-54 year olds, and 22 percentage points more than those aged 55+. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">People from Tbilisi are 12 percentage points more likely to be interested in receiving more information about the EU than people living in rural regions, and 14 points more likely than people in other urban areas. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Ethnic Georgians are 13 percentage points more likely to be interested in getting more information on the EU than ethnic minorities. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">People with tertiary education are 11 percentage points more likely to be interested in receiving more information on the EU than people with secondary or lower education.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40122" height="574" sizes="(max-width: 1068px) 100vw, 1068px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2.jpg 1068w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-300x161.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-1024x550.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/12/K-and-A-graph-2-768x413.jpg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1068" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While in 2023, people were more aware of Georgia’s EU membership status than ever before, the public’s interest in being informed about the EU has remained stable. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Anano Kipiani, a researcher at CRRC Georgia, and Kristina Vacharadze, Programmes Director at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in this article are the authors’ alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia, Europe Foundation, or any related entity.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-62597139014387202162023-11-07T12:36:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:23:16.915+04:00Only a third of Georgians believe the country will obtain EU candidate status<p style="text-align: left;"> <i><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px;">a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Givi Silagadze, a researcher at CRRC-Georgia, and Koba Turmanidze, CRRC Georgia’s president. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder;">On 8 November, the European Commission is set to offer its recommendation on whether the EU should grant Georgia candidate status. A CRRC Georgia survey found that only a third of Georgian-speaking adults expected that Georgia would receive EU candidate status by the end of the year. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The survey, run from 4-8 October 2023, also found a strong partisan divide. Despite having less favourable perceptions of the EU, supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party are significantly more likely to think Georgia will be granted candidate status than opposition supporters and people that do not support any party. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The public was asked if they expected that Georgia would be granted EU candidate status by the end of 2023. </span><span style="max-width: 100%;">A plurality of the public (45%) believe that Georgia will not be granted EU candidate status, a third of the public (33%) believe that Georgia will receive the status, and the remaining 22% are unsure. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39467" height="320" sizes="(max-width: 1595px) 100vw, 1595px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1.png 1595w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1-300x60.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1-1024x205.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1-768x154.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/1-1-1536x308.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1595" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Expectations vary substantially based on which party someone supports. Just under half of Georgian Dream supporters (47%) believe that EU candidate status will be granted, compared with one in four opposition supporters (24%). Roughly one in three ruling party supporters (35%) believe Georgia will not receive a positive decision from the EU. In contrast, a majority of opposition supporters (58%) report the same. Those that say no party is closest to them report similar attitudes to opposition supporters. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39468" height="462" sizes="(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2.png 1536w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2-300x90.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2-1024x308.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2-768x231.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1536" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">These answers are situated in a context of most Georgians supporting the country’s potential membership in the EU. Approximately two thirds (62%) of the Georgian-speaking population support membership fully or mostly, and a further quarter (24%) support it partially. Only 10% do not support the country’s membership in the EU. The remaining 3% of respondents are unsure or preferred not to respond.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39469" height="397" sizes="(max-width: 1399px) 100vw, 1399px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1.png 1399w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1-300x85.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1-1024x291.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/3-1-768x218.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1399" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Support for the country’s membership also varies substantially with partisanship. Slightly more than half (54%) of Georgian Dream supporters support Georgia’s EU membership, around a third (31%) partially support it, and 12% do not support it. By comparison, eight in ten opposition voters (83%) support Georgia’s EU membership, one in ten (9%) only partially support it, and 8% oppose it. Six out of ten non-partisan voters (61%) support Georgia’s EU membership, a quarter (25%) partially support it, and 12% do not support it at all. Notably, those who support no party have more similar views to those who support the ruling party than those in the opposition on this issue. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39470" height="420" sizes="(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1.png 1398w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1-300x90.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1-1024x308.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/4-1-768x231.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1398" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Overall, half of the population (48%) has a positive attitude toward the EU. Only one in ten Georgians (12%) has a negative perception of the EU. Slightly more than a third of the public (37%) has a neutral perception of the EU. The remaining 4% of the public are unsure or preferred not to respond.</span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-1589877771" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><div class="media-adlabel" style="max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; font-size: 18px; max-width: 100%; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39471" height="397" sizes="(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1.png 1398w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1-300x85.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1-1024x291.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/5-1-768x218.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1398" /></a></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgian Dream supporters and opposition supporters differ substantially in terms of their general perceptions of the EU. Slightly more than a third of Georgian Dream supporters (38%) have positive perceptions of the EU, while 43% report neutral attitudes. A further 17% report negative attitudes towards the EU. In contrast, three in four opposition supporters (76%) have positive views of the EU, 15% have a neutral view, and only one in eleven (9%) report a negative attitude. As for people who do not feel close to any political party, half (48%) have a positive view of the EU, 37% a neutral view, and 12% a negative attitude. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39472" height="420" sizes="(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6.png 1398w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6-300x90.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6-1024x308.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/11/6-768x231.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1398" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Only a third of Georgians believe that the country will gain candidate status. While ruling party supporters are substantially more likely to believe that the country will become a candidate, they are simultaneously far less positive about the EU than supporters of the opposition.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: The above differences across political groups were tested using logistic and ordinal regression models. The models controlled for the following variables: age group (18-35, 35-55, 55+), sex (male or female), education (completed secondary/lower, vocational or incomplete higher education/higher), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), party identification (Georgian Dream, Opposition, no party, DK/RA), employment (not working, working in the private sector, working in the public sector), social conservatism (low, mid-low, mid-high, high), and religious attendance (regularly, only on special occasions, rarely or never).</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Givi Silagadze, a researcher at CRRC-Georgia, and Koba Turmanidze, CRRC Georgia’s president. The article is based on data collected with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The views expressed in this article are the authors’ alone and do not represent the views of NED, CRRC Georgia, or any related entity.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-86532625374000546212023-10-31T12:33:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:26:28.345+04:00Almost half of young Georgians are on TikTok<p> <i style="color: #666666;"><span face="Ubuntu, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: Note: This article first appeared </span><span face="Ubuntu, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span face="Ubuntu, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Zachary Fabos, an International Fellow at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</span></i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A CRRC analysis of Georgian social media use has found that while Facebook remains the most popular social network in the country, almost half of young Georgians are on TikTok, with men and members of ethnic minority groups more likely to use the app.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite being a relative newcomer to the social media market, the popularity of TikTok, the short-form video sharing platform, is rapidly growing as a tool for accessing and engaging in entertainment and niche communities, </span><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/georgians-take-queerness-and-gender-bending-to-tiktok/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">especially among young people</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">. This has remained the case despite </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65019279" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">controversies</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> relating to data-sharing and state security, as its founding company, ByteDance, is China-based and has ties to China’s government. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Data from the 2021 Caucasus Barometer survey shows that while TikTok is used by far fewer people than Facebook in Georgia, nearly half of young people were using the platform as of late 2021. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgia’s most popular social media site by far is Facebook, with 69% of the population using the site, according to Caucasus Barometer 2021 data. Following Facebook in popularity are YouTube (61%), Instagram (26%), and TikTok (19%). Other platforms asked about included Twitter (now X) (5%), Vkontakte (5%), and Odnoklassniki (6%), which were significantly less popular. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39331" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 971px) 100vw, 971px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-social-media-platform.png 971w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-social-media-platform-300x140.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-social-media-platform-768x358.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="971" /></a></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Who uses TikTok? </span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The data suggests that usage is concentrated among young people. Controlling for other factors, the youngest group of adults surveyed are 42 percentage points — 15 times — more likely to use TikTok than older people. While only 19% of the public use TikTok, a regression analysis suggests that young people (18-34-year-olds) have a 45% chance of using the platform, controlling for other factors. This compares to only a 3% chance among those 55 and older, and a 17% chance among those aged 35-54. The Caucasus Barometer only surveys adults, meaning that data for those under 18 is not available. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Aside from age, several other factors predict TikTok usage.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Ethnic minorities are eight points more likely to use the platform than ethnic Georgians, while men are six points more likely than women to report engaging with the site. </span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-813414837" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><div class="media-adlabel" style="max-width: 100%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">Where one lives, level of education, employment status, and wealth were not associated with whether someone used the platform.</span></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-tiktok.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39332" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 974px) 100vw, 974px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-tiktok.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-tiktok.png 974w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-tiktok-300x139.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Do-you-use-tiktok-768x356.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="974" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Interestingly, partisanship is also associated with TikTok use. Those who supported any party were more likely to use TikTok than those who refused to answer which party they supported, did not know which party they supported, or did not support any party. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Use-of-tiktok-by-party-support.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39333" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 974px) 100vw, 974px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Use-of-tiktok-by-party-support.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Use-of-tiktok-by-party-support.png 974w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Use-of-tiktok-by-party-support-300x139.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Use-of-tiktok-by-party-support-768x356.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="974" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Despite Facebook’s continued dominance of the social media market in Georgia, both the above and other Caucasus Barometer data suggest 18-34-year-olds appear to be open to engaging with and using new platforms. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While the exact impact that it has remains to be seen, TikTok’s rapid rise in popularity among nearly half of the youngest adult demographic will likely have implications for Georgia’s relationship to entertainment, news, politics, and security. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Zachary Fabos, a Researcher at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: The analysis in this article makes use of logistic regression analysis. The analysis included gender (male, female), age group (18-34, 35-54, and 55+), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), education (secondary/ secondary technical/ lower, and tertiary), ethnicity (ethnic Georgian, ethnic minority), employment (not employed, employed), a wealth index (0-10), and party (no party/don’t know, other party, refuse to answer, Georgian Dream, UNM) as predictor variables. </i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The data used in this article is available</i> <a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2021ge/codebook/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">here</i></a><i style="max-width: 100%;">.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-69344042273868372972023-10-17T12:29:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:25:56.314+04:00Attitudes towards disinformation on social media in Armenia and Georgia <p> <em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Kristine Jinchveleishvili and Nutsa Metskhvarishvili, Junior Fellows at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</em></em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">Armenian and Georgian internet users have different perspectives on the effect of social media disinformation and its effect on their respective countries, with a CRRC analysis finding that Armenians are more likely to state that social media has a negative impact on their country. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Disinformation — information that is intended to mislead — has in recent years been a widely-discussed topic globally, particularly in relation to its presence on social media. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">An analysis of Caucasus Barometer 2021 data investigated the beliefs of Armenia and Georgia’s internet-using populations regarding the effects of online social media and disinformation on their countries. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The survey asked respondents that use the internet — 81% of Armenia and 73% of Georgia — what effects online social media had on ‘the way things are going’ in their country. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">A clear difference was visible between Armenian and Georgian populations’ perceptions of the impact of social media. While around half (52%) of the internet-using Armenian respondents surveyed reported that social media had a mostly negative impact on their country, less than a third (27%) of internet users in Georgia reported feeling the same. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Of those who reported that the internet had a negative impact on their country, a majority in both Armenia (61%) and Georgia (40%) attributed this to disinformation or made-up news. The next most common responses were named by less than 15% of the internet-using population.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart1-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39098" height="886" sizes="(max-width: 986px) 100vw, 986px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart1-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart1-1.png 986w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart1-1-300x270.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart1-1-768x690.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="986" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In Georgia, whether or not someone names disinformation varied with ethnicity and sex. </span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-839263081" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><div class="media-adlabel" style="max-width: 100%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">Ethnic Georgians were 41 percentage points more likely to name disinformation compared to ethnic minorities, while men were 12 percentage points more likely to mention disinformation than women. </span></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Other socio-demographic variables such as age, settlement type, education level, employment status, and wealth were not associated with naming disinformation in Georgia. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In Armenia, none of the variables tested were associated with believing that disinformation is the main reason social media has a negative effect. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39099" height="552" sizes="(max-width: 994px) 100vw, 994px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart2.png 994w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart2-300x167.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart2-768x426.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="994" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">That people named disinformation as the key negative effect of social media is perhaps unsurprising, considering that, of those who considered the internet to have a negative effect, 87% of the Armenian population surveyed and 59% in Georgia reported that they were worried about the impacts of disinformation on social media.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart3.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39100" height="604" sizes="(max-width: 986px) 100vw, 986px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart3.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart3.png 986w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart3-300x184.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart3-768x470.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="986" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">How much people report worrying about disinformation varied with age in Armenia, with people over the age of 34 more likely to be worried than younger people. Sex, settlement type, education level, employment status, and wealth were not associated with worrying about disinformation on Armenia’s internet and social media. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart4.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39101" height="571" sizes="(max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart4.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart4.png 857w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart4-300x200.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart4-768x512.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="857" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In Georgia, age and settlement type were associated with worrying about disinformation. People over the age of 34 were more likely to worry about disinformation, while people living in rural areas (56%) were less likely to worry about disinformation than people living in urban areas. Other socio-demographic variables such as sex, education level, employment status, and wealth were not associated with whether or not someone is worried about disinformation on Georgia’s internet. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart5.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39102" height="586" sizes="(max-width: 946px) 100vw, 946px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart5.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart5.png 946w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart5-300x186.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart5-768x476.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="946" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The survey also asked respondents why they think that disinformation is published. The most common reason given was to confuse people and distract them from real problems, which was chosen by 33% of Armenians and 43% of Georgians surveyed. Other common reasons given included pushing a specific political agenda or position, and earning clicks, shares or views. Relatively few of those surveyed in both countries believed that disinformation was used by ‘greater powers for their secret plans’, by those attempting to become influencers, or to entertain people. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart6.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-39103" height="747" sizes="(max-width: 986px) 100vw, 986px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart6.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart6.png 986w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart6-300x227.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Chart6-768x582.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="986" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Most people in Armenia and Georgia are worried about what they perceive to be the negative effects of social media, and particularly disinformation. People in Armenia are more skeptical of the effects of social media and more worried about disinformation than people in Georgia. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The regression analysis used in this article included the following variables: age (18-34, 35-54, 55+), sex (male, female), settlement type (capital, other urban, rural), education level (tertiary or not), ethnicity in Georgia only (ethnic Georgian, ethnic minority), employment status (employed or not working), and a wealth index (a simple additive index of ownership of a number of durable goods within a household). </i></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"></em></em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The views expressed in this article are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-24129606635481454642023-09-19T12:25:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:25:25.059+04:00Georgia’s changing priorities at the UN General Assembly<p> <em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Givi Silagadze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</em></em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">A quantitative analysis of the speeches made by Georgia’s leaders at the annual UN General Assembly found that their themes and priorities changed after the change of government in 2012, with Georgian Dream leaders more positive and discussing Russia less negatively than their predecessors. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The UN General Assembly (UNGA), currently in its 78th session, meets annually in September and offers an opportunity for the heads of state or government of every country to raise the issues that they consider most pressing, as well as addressing an international audience from one of the highest tribunes of the world. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgian political leaders have been no exception to this. Examining their speeches from 2007 to 2022 at the UNGA using quantitative text analysis allows patterns associated with the change in government in 2012 to be identified. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Mikheil Saakashvili, the leader of the previous United National Movement (UNM) government, made longer speeches, and spoke more often, more negatively, and more harshly about Russia. In comparison, Georgian Dream’s leaders and President Salome Zurabishvili have been less likely to mention Russia, instead focusing on broader concepts such as development, security, and peace. The data suggests a clear shift in Georgia’s foreign policy discourse. </span></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Speech length</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Saakashvili made longer speeches than Georgian Dream’s leaders, with his speeches on average containing 3360 words. His 2007 speech was the shortest (2723 words) and his last speech in 2013 the longest (4758 words). In contrast, an average speech after Georgian Dream took over was 2277 words, with Kvirikashvili's 2017 address the shortest (1915 words), and Zurabishvili’s 2019 speech the longest (3205 words).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38305" height="620" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1.png 1140w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1-300x163.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1-1024x557.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/1-768x418.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1140" /></a></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">General sentiment</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Sentiment analysis of the speeches shows that Saakashvili was generally more negative in his speeches than Georgian Dream’s Prime Ministers. The two speeches with the highest frequency of negative words are Saakashvili’s in 2008 and 2011, while the two most positive speeches are Gharibashvili’s in 2015 and 2021. However, it's important to highlight that Zurabishvili's overall sentiment differs from that of Georgian Dream leaders, with her speech recording a significantly more negative sentiment. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1.jpeg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38307" height="600" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1.jpeg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1.jpeg 1200w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1-300x150.jpeg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1-1024x512.jpeg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/2-1-768x384.jpeg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1200" /></a></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Russia in Georgian leaders’ UNGA speeches</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Due to the formal style of speeches at the UN General Assembly, many of the highest frequency words in Saakashvili’s speeches and those of Georgian Dream’s leaders are the same. However, there are some notable differences.</span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-1082685106" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><div class="media-adlabel" style="max-width: 100%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">Saakashvili frequently mentioned Russia and the word ‘freedom’, while Georgian Dream’s leaders mentioned security, education, development, and human rights more frequently. </span></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In total, Saakashvili mentioned Russia/Russians 105 times (once in every 224 words) while Georgian Dream leaders did the same 55 times (once in every 373 words). The UNM leader mentioned freedom 51 times (once in every 461 words) while Georgian Dream’s leaders mentioned it 28 times (once in every 732 words). </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">However, Georgian Dream’s leaders mentioned security 52 times (once in every 394 words), compared to Saakashvili’s 17 (once in every 1384 words). Georgian Dream also mentioned development 92 times (once in every 223 words), while Saakashvili said it 25 times (once in every 941 words). GD mentioned human rights roughly twice as often (once in every 683 words) as Saakashvili (once in every 1568 words), and referred to education 42 times (once in every 488 words) while Saakashvili mentioned it six times (once in every 3920 words). </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38309" height="1002" sizes="(max-width: 2512px) 100vw, 2512px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3.jpg 2512w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3-300x120.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3-1024x408.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3-768x306.jpg 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3-1536x613.jpg 1536w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/3-2048x817.jpg 2048w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="2512" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: Some of the words in the above word clouds are misspelled. This stems from the analysis method using core parts of words rather than the full word to conduct analysis, a process known as stemming. For instance, the analysis counts peace, peaceful, and peacebuilding in the same manner.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The context of the above mentions is important as well. The following graph demonstrates the number of mentions of ‘Russia’/’Russians’ in a negative context as well as the term ‘occupation’. Saakashvili referred to Russia negatively every 320 words, while GD leaders mentioned Russia in a negative context every 510 words. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Saakashvili’s attitude towards mentioning Russia changed during his time in power. In his speeches just after the 2008 war, he did not explicitly name Russia when speaking about the country in a negative light; for example, in 2008, he stated that ‘Georgia [...] was invaded by our neighbour’. However, in his later speeches, his negative references to Russia were more explicit. In his last speech at the UN General Assembly in 2013, Saakashvili referred to Russia negatively 34 times and mentioned ‘occupation’ six times. By comparison, Georgian Dream’s leaders mentioned Russia negatively only a handful of times in their speeches. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38311" height="597" sizes="(max-width: 1803px) 100vw, 1803px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4.png 1803w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4-300x99.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4-1024x339.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4-768x254.png 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/4-1536x509.png 1536w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1803" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">Note: Only direct mentions are counted. </i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">A closer inspection of sentiments suggests that Saakashvili used harsher language when referring to Russian activities in Georgia than Georgian Dream leaders. More specifically, the most frequently mentioned negative terms Saakashvili used were </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">brutal</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">destroy</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">danger</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">tank</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">attack</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">fear</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">kill</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, and </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">conflict</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">. In contrast, Georgian Dream’s leaders and Zurabishvili’s highest-frequency negative words associated with Russia are </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">conflict</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">severe</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">difficult</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">threat</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, and </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">hard</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">While Georgian Dream’s leaders use the term ‘terror’, it does not refer to Russian occupation. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In terms of positive words, Saakashvili put greater emphasis on the term ‘freedom’, while Georgian Dream leaders prioritised the word ‘success’ more often. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-scaled.jpg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38314" height="1385" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-scaled.jpg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-300x162.jpg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-1024x554.jpg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-768x416.jpg 768w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-1536x831.jpg 1536w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/5-2048x1108.jpg 2048w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="2560" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">An analysis tool known as </span><a href="https://www.tidytextmining.com/topicmodeling.html" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">topic modeling</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> suggests that the main themes of Saakashvili’s addresses revolve around Russia, the Georgian nation, peace, and democratic governance. Examining the top nine topics suggests there are several recurring terms in Saakashvili’s speeches at the UN General Assembly: Russia (topics 1, 8), war and invasion (topics 2, 4), new and nation (topics 2,5,9), peace (topics 6,7), and democratic governance (topic 3).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1.jpeg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38316" height="1058" sizes="(max-width: 1520px) 100vw, 1520px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1.jpeg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1.jpeg 1520w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1-300x209.jpeg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1-1024x713.jpeg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/6-1-768x535.jpeg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1520" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Topic modeling of the Georgian Dream PMs and Zurabishvili’s speeches suggest that their priorities differ from Saakashvili’s. In their top nine topics, none refer explicitly to Russia. Their speeches mostly focused on development (topics 1,2,5,8,9), security (topics 1, 2, 5), peace (topics 3, 4,6), Europe (topics 2,3, 6), rights (5,9), and the economy (7,8). One of the topics (8) does include the term </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">occupation</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, but mainly in the context of economic development.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7.jpeg" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-38318" height="1062" sizes="(max-width: 1530px) 100vw, 1530px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7.jpeg" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7.jpeg 1530w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7-300x208.jpeg 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7-1024x711.jpeg 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/7-768x533.jpeg 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1530" /></a></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"></em></em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above analysis suggests a shift in foreign policy priorities and Georgia’s international positioning after Georgian Dream came into power. While Saakashvili used harsher and more negative terms, and referred to Russia more regularly, Georgian Dream’s Prime Ministers have been relatively reluctant to refer to Russia explicitly. Instead, they have focused their speeches to the UN on security, development, the economy, and peace. </span></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-58041491653713413352023-09-06T12:23:00.000+04:002024-01-11T12:25:05.005+04:00Russian émigrés in Georgia<p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog,</span></a></span> a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Givi Silagadze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">After the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russian nationals moved to Georgia, with many choosing to stay. A CRRC survey found that Russian respondents in Georgia believe that Russia is not a democracy, have mixed views about Georgia’s political direction, and feel relatively secure in Georgia. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Georgia emerged as a popular destination for Russian citizens fleeing their country. According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, between February and September 2022, about 100,000 Russian nationals </span><a href="https://netgazeti.ge/life/637626/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">entered </a><span style="max-width: 100%;">the country and chose to stay. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Many Georgians are concerned about the influx and believe it might have </span><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nd2022ge/IMPRSSCIT/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">a detrimental impact</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> on the country, and the attitudes of Russian émigrés about both Georgia and Russian politics have been hotly debated. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">To understand these attitudes, in the spring and early summer of 2023, CRRC-Georgia employing non-probability based sampling methods, polled over 1,000 Russian nationals who emigrated to Georgia after February 2022. The data show that, at least for those surveyed, Russians in Georgia left due to the war, seeking security, and feel they have found it in Georgia. With regard to politics, the Russians surveyed are extremely negative about Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatively positive about opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and believe that Russia is not a democracy. </span></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Migrating to Georgia</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The poll asked respondents to name the primary reasons for choosing Georgia. A plurality of respondents (28%) cited security in Georgia. One in six (17%) mentioned the cost of living, and one in seven (14%) mentioned the ease of getting to Georgia. No more than 10% of respondents named the other available response options.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37834" height="378" sizes="(max-width: 1407px) 100vw, 1407px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1.png 1407w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1-300x81.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1-1024x275.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus1-768x206.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1407" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Three quarters of those surveyed (74%) report they have at least one Georgian friend. Nearly half (44%) reported having a Georgian friend before coming to Georgia after February 2022. More than half of the respondents (57%) stated they made new Georgian friends after moving to the country.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37835" height="217" sizes="(max-width: 1370px) 100vw, 1370px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2.png 1370w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2-300x48.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2-1024x162.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus2-768x122.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1370" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">A majority (78%) say they are very or quite satisfied with their life in Georgia. One in six (16%) are neither satisfied nor unsatisfied. One in twenty (6%) report they are very or rather unsatisfied with life in Georgia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37836" height="358" sizes="(max-width: 1402px) 100vw, 1402px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3.png 1402w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3-300x77.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3-1024x261.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus3-768x196.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1402" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Most Russians feel physically secure living in Georgia. A third of the respondents (33%) felt very safe, and 56% said they felt quite safe. Only 8% reported feeling neither safe nor unsafe, and 3% said they felt very unsafe or rather unsafe.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37837" height="332" sizes="(max-width: 1406px) 100vw, 1406px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4.png 1406w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4-300x71.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4-1024x242.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus4-768x181.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1406" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Since moving to Georgia, nine in ten respondents (89%) opened a bank account, two-thirds (68%) received money transfers from Russia, three in ten (30%) opened or registered a business, and 6% purchased real estate. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37838" height="272" sizes="(max-width: 1093px) 100vw, 1093px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5.png 1093w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5-300x75.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5-1024x255.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus5-768x191.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1093" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The reported duration of respondents’ stays in Georgia is mixed, with a large share uncertain of how long they’ll stay. Half (49%) plan to remain in Georgia for at least a year. A further 14% plan to spend more than six months, but less than a year. One in twenty (6%) plan to stay for more than four months, but no more than six. Other periods were reported by less than 5% of the sample. A quarter of the Russians surveyed Russians (25%) have yet to decide how long they will remain in Georgia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37839" height="415" sizes="(max-width: 1397px) 100vw, 1397px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6.png 1397w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6-300x89.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6-1024x304.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus6-768x228.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1397" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The émigrés overwhelmingly trust Georgians. Nine in ten (91%) fully or mostly trust residents of Georgia, while only 8% say that they do not trust Georgians.</span></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Attitudes towards Georgian politics</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The Russians surveyed tend to think Georgia qualifies as a democracy, but they are divided over the scale of its political issues. More than a third of the respondents think Georgia is either a full democracy (3%) or a democracy with minor problems (35%). Slightly over half believe Georgia is a democracy with major problems (56%). Only 3% consider Georgia not at all democratic, and the remaining 3% do not know.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37841" height="316" sizes="(max-width: 1407px) 100vw, 1407px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1.png 1407w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1-300x67.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1-1024x230.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus7-1-768x172.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1407" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The émigrés generally rate Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili’s performance negatively, whereas they primarily rate that of President Salome Zurabishvili positively. Only 19% of respondents thought the PM's performance was very or quite positive, whereas 74% said the President's performance was very or quite positive.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37842" height="375" sizes="(max-width: 1427px) 100vw, 1427px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8.png 1427w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8-300x79.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8-1024x269.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus8-768x202.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1427" /></a></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">Leaving Russia</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Similar to earlier </span><a href="https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/publications/zois-report/russians-in-the-south-caucasus-political-attitudes-and-the-war-in-ukraine" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">studies</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> of displaced Russians in Georgia, the major reasons for leaving Russia were the political situation in Russia, the conflict in Ukraine, and the ‘partial’ mobilisation that took place in September 2022. The political situation in Russia was cited by an overwhelming majority of responders (87%). 73% mentioned the conflict with Ukraine. Slightly less than a third (29%) of Russians polled stated the announcement of 'partial' mobilisation was among the primary triggers prompting their departure.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37843" height="397" sizes="(max-width: 1416px) 100vw, 1416px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9.png 1416w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9-300x84.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9-1024x287.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus9-768x215.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1416" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The polled Russians maintain regular contact with their friends and family who remain in Russia. A little more than a quarter of those polled (27%) said they communicated with friends and family in Russia on a daily basis. Half of those polled indicated they spoke with them at least once a week. 16% indicated they spoke with friends and family in Russia at least once a month but not every week. Fewer respondents reported talking with friends and family less often. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37844" height="303" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10.png 1408w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10-300x65.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10-1024x220.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus10-768x165.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1408" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Moreover, the interviewed Russians have no plans to return to Russia anytime soon. The vast majority of Russians polled (93%) said they would not return to Russia in the foreseeable future.</span></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto-Regular; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 40px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Attitudes towards Russian politics</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">When questioned about their overall opinion of Russia, respondents tend to assess the country unfavourably. Two-thirds (66%) of Russians in the survey had negative feelings about Russia. A little more than a quarter of them (28%) were optimistic, while 6% were unsure and refused to answer the question.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37845" height="295" sizes="(max-width: 1412px) 100vw, 1412px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11.png 1412w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11-300x63.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11-1024x214.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus11-768x160.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1412" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Respondents trust other Russians who left more than those that stayed. While 76% of respondents reported trusting Russians who left, 49% reported trusting Russians who stayed.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37847" height="285" sizes="(max-width: 1418px) 100vw, 1418px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1.png 1418w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1-300x60.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1-1024x206.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus12-1-768x154.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1418" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The respondents were certain that Russia does not qualify as a democracy, with 94% reporting Russia is not a democracy at all. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37848" height="315" sizes="(max-width: 1410px) 100vw, 1410px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13.png 1410w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13-300x67.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13-1024x229.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus13-768x172.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1410" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Respondents tend to evaluate Russian President Vladimir Putin very negatively and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny quite positively. Nine in ten respondents (89%) assessed Putin’s performance very negatively, and 5% rather negatively. Eight in ten respondents (79%) assessed Navalny’s performance positively.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37849" height="313" sizes="(max-width: 1407px) 100vw, 1407px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14.png 1407w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14-300x67.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14-1024x228.png 1024w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/09/rus14-768x171.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="1407" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The Russians interviewed in the above survey overwhelmingly left due to the war, and came to Georgia for security. The above data suggests they have found it, and they are satisfied with life here. They have relatively positive views of Georgia’s democracy, while assessing President Zurabishvili positively and Prime Minister Gharibashvili negatively. They tend to hold highly negative views of Putin, and quite positive views of Navalny. They recognise Russia is not a democracy.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">This blog is based on a larger report, available </span><a href="https://crrc.ge/uploads/tinymce/documents/NED/NED%20Russians%20report%20v3_ENG.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">.</span></p><p><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; max-width: 100%;">NOTE</i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; max-width: 100%;">: Due to the non-probability sampling method, the results are only applicable to the respondents (N=1008) and not to the whole population of Russian citizens residing in Georgia. </i> </p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-68558957421906492682023-08-08T12:21:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:24:52.271+04:00What Georgians read on Wikipedia<p> <i><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared on </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Hans Gutbrod, who teaches at Ilia State University. Hans was previously the Regional Director of Caucasus Research Resource Centers. The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</span></i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">Analysing the most-visited Georgian-language pages on Wikipedia gives an insight into the priorities and interests of Georgian users of the site, with some surprises.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In the depths of the internet, </span><a href="https://pageviews.wmcloud.org/pageviews/?project=ka.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&redirects=0&range=latest-20&pages=%E1%83%A8%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%90%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98_%E1%83%99%E1%83%90%E1%83%A2%E1%83%90%7C%E1%83%A8%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%90%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98_%E1%83%AB%E1%83%90%E1%83%A6%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">a little-known</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> site listing the page views of different sites gives access to a particular treasure: the 100 most visited Georgian-language Wikipedia entries since 2015, highlighting what people have been drawn to over the last seven years. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Some of the top pages may not come as a surprise to those familiar with the country’s attitude to its history and culture. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">For example, Georgian-language Wikipedia usage shows a strong interest in the country’s kings. David IV Aghmashenebeli (the Builder) is the third most visited page on Georgian Wikipedia, followed by Queen Tamar (5), Erekle II (10), Vakhtang I Gorgasali (11), and Parnavaz I (28). The first and only living Georgian among the top 100 is Georgian footballer and Napoli left-winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (48). </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Poetry, poets, and writers are also popular, led by Ilia Chavchavadze (8), The Knight in the Panther’s Skin (12), Vazha-Pshavela (14), Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (20), Shota Rustaveli (23), Akaki Tsereteli (25) and Galaktion Tabidze (32), and playwright and director Sandro Akhmeteli (40). The painter Niko Pirosmani (56) is also among the top 10 artists that Georgians look up on Wikipedia. Composers, however, appear not to be looked up frequently. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Is the curiosity genuine, or are children cribbing for school? Ilia Chavchavadze is most in demand in November (26,700 views) and of least interest in August (3,900 views). This pattern seems to align with the curricular season, though perhaps it is good if teachers encourage kids to wander the pastures of ‘the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">largest and most-read</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> reference work in history’. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Sharka Blue (23) was not a name I recognised. On inspection, it turns out that Sharka Blue lists ‘Assume the Position 4’ among her oeuvre. You would be wrong to expect that to be a tactical recommendation for a debating competition.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The prominence of her page looks likely to be attributable to Georgian Wikipedia having a full list of her professional filmography — something that no other language appears to have. Only 60% of her page views are from a mobile device, when otherwise the average is above 80%.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Sharka notwithstanding, women are systematically underrepresented in Georgian Wikipedia. Queen Tamar is the only woman in the top 20, and when speaking about her, many men — especially during toasts — will anyway insist she was so formidable as to be a </span><i style="max-width: 100%;">mepe</i><span style="max-width: 100%;">, a king. The next women are far down the list, with the Martyrdom of Shushanik (77), Queen Elizabeth II (79), and Saint Nino (84), making for a total of five women versus 25 men among the top 100 entries. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Geographical information is highly sought after on Georgian Wikipedia. The fourth most popular entry is Ukraine, closely followed by the List of Countries (7), National Flags (15), Russia (18), the United States of America (22), and Earth (26). As might be expected, interest in Ukraine and Russia spiked in February/March of 2022. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Mexico, an </span><a href="https://twitter.com/datartvelo/status/1678821978365370368?s=20" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">increasingly popular destination</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> for those seeking to travel onward to the US, remains the 919</span><span style="max-width: 100%;">th</span><span style="max-width: 100%;"> most visited page with stable interest across the years, suggesting that Wikipedia is not where potential migrants do their research.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The word ‘tolerance’ (85) is amongst the top 100 Georgian-language Wikipedia pages, as is ‘liberalism’ (91). Otherwise, verbs (36), adjectives (49), metaphor (80), and synonyms (86), rank high, suggesting once again that a significant proportion of the online encyclopedia’s Georgian-language users may be students. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">One odd feature in Georgia, but also Armenia and Azerbaijan, is that the single most visited page is the entry for Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan politician, with half a million page visits in total. As less than 0.2% of the visits are from a mobile device, when otherwise this is how Wikipedia is usually accessed, there probably are bots at work. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The high-intensity visits started in early 2020 and have been high since, with a short trough across the three countries at the same time in December 2021. The Georgian page for Puigdemont was </span><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E1%83%99%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%A1_%E1%83%9E%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A9%E1%83%93%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98&action=history" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">created</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> as a translation from the Russian entry. It has been reported that Puigdemont’s associates </span><a href="https://cepa.org/article/catalonia-where-theres-trouble-theres-russia/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">have visited Moscow</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, and may have even sought assistance there. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Georgia's most viewed page after that? Ahead of the page for the country itself, it is the entry for Europebet. Perhaps eager customers have been jumping on the first link in Google, as an accidental (if potentially informative) detour before clicking through to the gambling site. An alternative interpretation is that people are impatiently clicking on the top listing in hopes of finding news of their favourite team. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Such sporting enthusiasm is evident in article edits. Georgia’s most edited entry is that of footballer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (286 edits), followed by Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (107 edits, 83</span><span style="max-width: 100%;">rd</span><span style="max-width: 100%;"> most viewed entry), as avid fans update their players’ scores. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Major gaps remain in what is accessible on Georgian Wikipedia. For example, while according to WHO data, 28% of children in Georgia </span><a href="https://jam-news.net/nearly-one-in-three-children-in-georgia-is-overweight-who/" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">are overweight or obese</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, there is no entry on the subject in Georgian that parents or health professionals might use for reference. In Armenia, at least, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">English entry</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> seems to have been translated.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Other entries remain stubs. The Georgian-language </span><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%A4%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%AA%E1%83%98%E1%83%90" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">entry on inflation</a><span style="max-width: 100%;"> has 113 words. By comparison, those that read English can find an article that is more than 80 times as detailed, with over 9000 words, describing causes as well as methods of controlling inflation. With inflation in Georgia running at 12% per year, the issue matters for most families. Macroeconomic teaching and research on inflation in Georgia could be complemented by making information on the issue available to all.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Wikipedia in the region rests on the work of few contributors. When it comes to Admins, the entire Caucasus contingent would fit on a mid-sized bus: 14 in Azerbaijan, 11 in Armenia, six in Georgia, five for Megrelian, and two for the Abkhaz language. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">When things are easy to improve, they should not ever be complained about. Wikipedia squarely fits into that category. Any user can help to add information, as long as it is well-documented with a reliable source. One would hope that universities get more engaged, too, to encourage lecturers and students to add their micro-contribution to knowledge – arguably the most fruitful assignment as it serves the world, not just a single assessment. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Wikipedia, as it turns out, does not just hold information – it also holds information about information, in telling us what is of most interest. In this way, it opens yet another window onto Georgia and onto the world. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">This article was written by Hans Gutbrod, who teaches at Ilia State University. Hans was previously the Regional Director of Caucasus Research Resource Centers. This analysis is based on a presentation at the CRRC methods conference in June 2023. For a regional comparison, see this </i><a href="https://eurasianet.org/perspectives-the-wikipedia-browsing-habits-of-south-caucasians" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">article on EurasiaNet</i></a><i style="max-width: 100%;">. The author extends a special thanks to Giorgi Melashvili for pointing out how to retrieve the listings. The full list </i><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uMSz7juxpyqFVdgZS95cjv0plqKc_Gjy/edit#gid=2118294624" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">is here</i></a><i style="max-width: 100%;">. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.</i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-21068943055731078492023-07-11T12:17:00.000+04:002024-01-11T13:24:07.674+04:00Georgians continue to support gender parity in parliament<p><b> </b><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared on <a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" target="_blank">the Caucasus Data Blog</a>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Eto Gagunashvili, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia and Nino Topchishvili, a Junior Fellow at CRRC-Georgia. . The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bolder; max-width: 100%;">More than half of the Georgian public support a gender-balanced parliament, with women, young people, and those not aligned with the ruling party more in favour of a 50/50 gender split. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Legislation passed in Georgia in 2020 required parties to nominate at least one out of every four candidates on their electoral lists be women, to their electoral lists, with this number increasing to one in three by </span><a href="https://georgia.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20Georgia/Attachments/Publications/2021/Women%20in%20Decision%20Making-FINAL%20%281%29.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">2028</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, promoting women's participation in politics. However, due to the </span><a href="https://georgia.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20Georgia/Attachments/Publications/2021/Women%20in%20Decision%20Making-FINAL%20%281%29.pdf" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;">first-past-the-post component of elections</a><span style="max-width: 100%;">, less than one quarter of current parliamentarians are women. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">In parallel to legislative changes, public opinion is becoming more supportive of women in leadership positions, with CRRC and NDI’s surveys from 2014 to the present showing a consistent increase in the share of the population that believes that an equal gender split in parliament is ideal.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Since 2022, a majority of the Georgian public has reported that the ideal proportion of men and women in parliament is 50% male and 50% female. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The share of the public supporting this position rose from 49% to 59% between 2021 and 2022, remaining at a similar level of 62% in 2023. By comparison, only 32% reported agreeing with this position in 2014. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The rise in people reporting an equal split between men and women in parliament coincides with a decline in the share of people reporting that 30% or less women and 70% or more men would be the ideal share. This percentage dropped from 55% in 2014 to 19% in 2023.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart1.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-36833" height="662" sizes="(max-width: 911px) 100vw, 911px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart1.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart1.png 911w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart1-300x218.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart1-768x558.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="911" /></a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Further analysis shows that age, gender, and partisanship are associated with views about gender balance in parliament.</span></p><div class="media-content" id="media-1431464734" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><div class="media-adlabel" style="max-width: 100%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">Women are 13 percentage points more likely to support an equal share of men and women in parliament than men. Older people (55+) are 12 percentage points less likely to support a gender-balanced parliament compared to young people (18-34). </span></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">People who report that there is no party close to them are 12 percentage points more likely to choose equal representation of men and women in parliament than Georgian Dream supporters.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">Education level, settlement type, ethnicity, and wealth are not associated with support for an equal share of men and women in parliament, controlling for other factors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="js-lightbox" data-caption="" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart2_updated.png" style="color: #54a6a6; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-36834" height="663" sizes="(max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart2_updated.png" srcset="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart2_updated.png 912w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart2_updated-300x218.png 300w, https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/07/chart2_updated-768x558.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="912" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;">The above data show that the public is increasingly in favour of having more women in Georgia’s parliament, with women, people under 55, and those who do not support Georgian Dream most in favour of that.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato-Regular; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><i style="max-width: 100%;">The above analysis is based on a logistic regression, where the dependent variable is equal support for male and female members of parliament or another response. The independent variables include gender, age, settlement type, ethnicity, wealth, education, and partisanship. </i></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-73595542950982676802023-06-27T11:26:00.003+04:002023-06-27T11:26:54.102+04:00 CRRC’s 9th Annual Conference: New Frontiers: The South Caucasus Amidst New Challenges<p>On June 22 and 23, the Caucasus Research Resource Centers in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia hosted the 9th annual methods conference. This year the conference focused on the Russian-Ukrainian and how it has altered the geopolitical, economic, and demographic state of the South Caucasus. </p><p>The first day of the conference featured four panels, on issues ranging from values, mobilization, and activism in the South Caucasus to migration to and from the region. </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ecaa1748-7fff-3a55-94f1-52436af4b7d8"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lP7xZ5WZB1nhbqzYQsFtDIBXreiop3t3GvRzerIL-HBCn7xG_3uaTbb7L_l3jUEwMEEdW1LLRsiVi8cwHU-UHJvh0tatRHYLoCVIADLXGhDFme64Pqz0trHwpgF69L14eaFavxSGhr-KqLeGiHS2d6o" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></span></p><p>The first day also featured a round table on Archival Access and Openness in the Caucasus and Eurasia, with speakers from Berkeley, Cambridge, and Princeton, among other universities. </p><p>The second day of the conference featured two panels, with the first looking at new economic geographies of the region, and the second focused on intercommunal relations in the South Caucasus. </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6abd53be-7fff-0996-19f6-8bf6969d9f6e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 473px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="473" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u4ubWKShJHjJcspwn_jgrmEBrBOZiuq63c_tT3MZFoBQP8O2KeOT2yYm2BNyWZ2w0licbmCQisTd-Wcn3QanVFvdcFAzKGW1KqG_bJwSRmHMIhgALQKeUvFrndXDoMT7y-5PSjxmBsK-ZT3ttOJ1tUw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></span></p><p>The conference concluded with a methods workshop, focused on Empowering Research Subjects with Photovoice in the South Caucasus.</p><p>The full conference video will be available from CRRC Georgia’s YouTube Channel in the near future, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWiHxYB14X10IWaDPU1FrOQ">here</a>.</p><p>The conference abstract book is available <a href="https://crrc.ge/uploads/tinymce/documents/Conference%202023/Conference%202023%20-%20abstract%20book.pdf">here</a>. </p><p><br /></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-43152972653438549842023-06-20T15:52:00.001+04:002023-07-03T15:55:14.048+04:00 What Do Non-Partisans Think of Politicians and Parties in Georgia?<p><span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: Note: This article first appeared </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Zachary Fabos, an International Fellow at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</span></i></span></p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A CRRC analysis found that, of the plurality of Georgians who do not feel any party aligns with their views, most dislike Georgia’s leading political figures and parties.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Controversy over Georgia’s leading politicians’ actions and statements is commonplace. Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili’s recent statements on the war in Ukraine and the subsequent criticism surrounding it is just one recent example.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Typically, an individual’s reaction to such controversy is connected to their political views and party alignment. However, a plurality of Georgians either do not know which party their views align with or feel their views do not align with any party, according to CRRC Georgia’s January 2023 Omnibus survey. This segment of the Georgian public is critical of all political figures and parties they are surveyed on, regardless of a politician’s political affiliation.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Participants of CRRC Georgia’s Omnibus Survey were asked which party best aligned with their views. A plurality (47%) of Georgians either do not know or believe no party aligns with their views. A quarter (24%) indicated their views align with Georgian Dream, while 11% reported the United National Movement (UNM) did. 12% chose other parties, and the remaining 6% refused to answer.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">As the plurality of respondents do not know, or feel no party aligns with their views, what do they think of some of the country’s leading political figures?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Respondents that indicated don’t know or no party aligns with their views disliked all the political figures they were asked about. However, this group was most critical of Georgian Dream party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze and former UNM chairman Nika Melia with a net favourability of -50% each, with 13% reporting they liked Kobakhidze, and 63% reporting they disliked him. The nonpartisans, and the public more generally, were least critical of Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, with a net favourability of -7% amongst those who supported no party. The rest of the political figures in the survey fell somewhere between, all with negative net favourability among this group.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/datablog-graph.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-36117" height="546" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/datablog-graph.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="977" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The degree to which these respondents’ criticism is nonpartisan is reinforced by data from those that indicated either the Georgian Dream party or UNM was closest to their views. Among these partisan respondents, likes and dislikes sharply align with partisanship.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgian Dream supporters greatly dislike political figures associated with the UNM, with former President Mikheil Saakashvili receiving -67% net favourability, and former party chairman Nika Melia -84% net favourability. Support for political figures associated with Georgian Dream is consistently positive. However, party chair Irakli Kobakhidze and President Salome Zourabichvili, an independent who was strongly supported in her election by Georgian Dream, received the lowest net favourability scores of the group with 34% and 29%, respectively.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Similarly, those indicating the UNM is closest to their views strongly supported opposition-aligned political figures, while being critical of those associated with Georgian Dream. Amongst this group, for example, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili received a net favourability score of -68%. In contrast, UNM supporters have highly positive attitudes towards Saakashvili, who had a net favourability of 83%, the highest net favourability rating of any political figure in all groups regardless of party.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Opinions on the two leading parties among nonpartisans were largely critical, as 60% stated they disliked Georgian Dream while 67% disliked the UNM. Although the group was more likely to like the ruling party (21%) than the opposition (13%), positive perceptions of both parties were relatively uncommon.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">This group was similarly critical of all other parties they were surveyed on, with all being disliked by a majority (at least 60%), or more of the group. The most liked of the third parties was former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia, with 15% of those in the group of nonpartisans questioned indicating they liked the party. The least liked was the far-right Conservative Movement, at 6%.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/zf-net-fav-2.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-36115" height="1403" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/zf-net-fav-2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2147" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: Response options to the question on the above chart included like a lot, like more than dislike, dislike more than like, and do not like at all in addition to don’t know, refuse to answer, and I have not heard of this party. The chart above merges responses of like a lot and like more than dislike as like. It also combines responses of dislike more than like and do not like at all into dislike.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data shows that party allegiance, or lack thereof, is associated with Georgians’ opinions on political figures. As a plurality of those surveyed do not align themselves with any one party’s beliefs, many Georgians are left not sympathising with any party, and largely dislike most major political figures.</span>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-10191303608392185702023-06-13T15:55:00.022+04:002023-07-03T16:00:16.519+04:00 Do Georgians Feel Like They are Being Spied on by the Government? <p><i><span style="color: #666666;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared on </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Dustin Gilbreath, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</span></span></i></p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Nearly half of the Georgian public think that they or their family members are under government surveillance at least some of the time.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgia has consistently had controversies around surveillance over the past two political administrations, as both the United National Movement and Georgian Dream governments have had </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/press/ti-georgia-poll-on-surveillance-69-of-respondents-would-not-discuss-critica" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">extensive access</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> to communications.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In September 2021, a massive cache of files allegedly belonging to the State Security Services (SSG) was leaked, causing a scandal in Georgia and stirring fears of mass surveillance among the public.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">[Read more on OC Media: </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-georgian-public-opinion-on-the-ssg-files/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Datablog | Georgian public opinion on the SSG files</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">]</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Though Georgian Dream initially made some reforms in this area upon coming to power, recent </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/georgian-parliament-overrides-presidential-veto-on-controversial-surveillance-law/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">legislative</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> changes have largely rolled back on this progress. In light of the consistent scandals, it is perhaps unsurprising that nearly half the public thinks that they are being surveilled in one form or another, according to </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://crrc.ge/en/project/supporting-accountable-and-human-rights-oriented-security-sector-through-research-advocacy-and-inclusive-dialogue/120" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">a recent survey</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> CRRC-Georgia conducted for the Social Justice Center.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The survey asked respondents how much they felt that the SSG surveilled them or their family members in everyday life through the following means:</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Listening to their phone calls;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Monitoring their social media activity;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Informants in their neighbourhood, community, or workplace and;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Physical surveillance.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data suggest that the public is most likely to think that security services listen to their phone calls, with 36% reporting they believe this happens sometimes or always.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Social media monitoring was the second-most common form of surveillance people believed to be subject to, with one in five (20%) believing this happens sometimes or always. Approximately one in six (17%) believe that there are government informants at their workplace, in their community, or in their neighbourhood. Direct surveillance is believed to be least common among the public, with only 6% reporting they believe this happens to them sometimes or always.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/who-is-watching-chart-1.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35912" height="1503" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/who-is-watching-chart-1.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2071" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Overall, 44% of the public reported that they believe the government monitors them in one of the above manners. One in five (21%) named one means of surveillance on the survey, one in eight (13%) reported two means of surveillance while one in ten (10%) reported three or four means of surveillance.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Who-is-watching-chart-2.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35913" height="1501" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Who-is-watching-chart-2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2071" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">When the data is broken down by social and demographic variables, a number of patterns emerge: first, older people (55+) are significantly less likely to believe they are under surveillance than those between 18–34 or 35–54.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Second, people who support the opposition are 25 points more likely than Georgian Dream supporters to believe they are under surveillance at least sometimes. Similarly, nonpartisans are seven points more likely to believe that they are being surveilled than supporters of the ruling party.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A regression that included the above variables did not show any significant differences between men and women, ethnic minorities and ethnic Georgians, IDPs and non-IDPs, wealthier and poorer households, people in different types of settlement, those with differing levels of education, those working and not, and working the public and private sectors.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Who-is-watching-chart-3.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35914" height="1501" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Who-is-watching-chart-3.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2071" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The above data suggests that nearly half the public thinks the government is surveilling them, with opposition supporters being particularly likely to believe the government is watching.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data in this article is available </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/sjc2022ge/ETHNPROT/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">here</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">.</span>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-71391049063006694922023-06-06T16:04:00.007+04:002023-07-03T16:07:14.232+04:00Georgians' Attitudes and Beliefs Associated with Polarised Media Preferences <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Givi Siligadze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented in the article are the authors’ alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia, the National Endowment of Democracy, or any related entity.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A recent NDI/CRRC survey suggests that Georgians have markedly different beliefs about the present state and future of their country, regardless of their party sympathies, depending on whether the television channel they trust is pro-government or pro-opposition.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgian media is widely </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://civil.ge/archives/538593" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">considered</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> to be heavily polarised, with its focus ‘almost entirely on the party-political agenda’, according to one </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://cdniq.us1.myspdn.com/atsdpid1d6u5cmy4j61kro6gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DWA-DWA-Discussion-paper-Media-Situation-Analysis-Georgia-EN_WEB_20230417-2.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">respondent</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> in a recent DW Akademie study.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">This polarisation may have reached the point of impeding the functionality of the media: a 2021 </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://epfound.ge/static/file/202206134459-media-good-governance.-09.06.22.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">study</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> found that Georgia’s main media outlets in Georgia had become so partisan that their ability to report in the broader public interest was undermined.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Research using data from a March 2023 NDI/CRRC </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nm2023ge/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">survey</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> found that people’s attitudes and perceptions of Georgia and its politics differed significantly depending on what TV channels they considered trustworthy, even when controlling for party preferences.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data suggests that people who trust pro-government TV channels tend to be more optimistic about the country's direction, less concerned with political issues, more convinced that Georgia is a democracy, and more open to Georgia cooperating with Russia on political as well as economic issues than people who trust pro-opposition TV stations.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Georgia, one in five people (19%) </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nm2023ge/TRUMTVINFO/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">trust</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> pro-government TV channels the most (Imedi or PosTV). Roughly every eighth Georgian (13%) puts their </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nm2023ge/TRUMTVINFO/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">trust</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> in pro-opposition TV channels (Mtavari, TV Pirveli, Formula, Kavkasia), and a similar proportion (12%) of the public trusts other TV stations (Rustavi 2, GPB, Adjara TV, Obiektivi, etc.). The remaining 57% of the electorate </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nm2023ge/TRUMTVINFO/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">trust</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> no TV channel or are uncertain about which station they trust most.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data suggests that regardless of age, sex, settlement type, ethnicity, wealth, and partisan sympathy, people who trust pro-government TV channels tend to feel more positive about Georgia’s present and future, compared to people who trust other TV channels or do not trust TV at all.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">All else being equal, Georgians whose most trusted TV channel is pro-government are 40 percentage points more likely than people who trust pro-opposition TV channels to think that the country is going in the right direction, and 33 percentage points more likely to say that Georgia is a democracy today, than people who trust pro-opposition channels.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp1-n-pp2.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35798" height="1100" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp1-n-pp2.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1882" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Regarding which countries or international organisations Georgia should have the closest political cooperation with, people who trust pro-opposition TV stations differ from other segments of the electorate.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A regression analysis suggests that people who trust pro-opposition TV channels tend to be more pro-Western and anti-Russian than people who trust pro-government media, other TV channels, or do not trust TV at all.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">People who trust pro-opposition TV channels are 13 percentage points more likely to think that Georgia should politically cooperate most closely with the USA, and 18 percentage points more likely to think that the EU should be Georgia’s closest political ally, than Georgians who trust pro-government media.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Moreover, they are 10 percentage points less likely to say that Georgia should have its closest political ties to Russia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp3-n-pp4-n-pp5.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35799" height="1564" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp3-n-pp4-n-pp5.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1884" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The patterns are similar for opinions on Georgia’s economic partnerships. The data suggests that after controlling for age, sex, settlement type, ethnicity, wealth, and partisan sympathy, people who trust pro-government TV channels are twice as likely to support deepening economic relations with Russia than people who trust pro-opposition TV stations.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp6_rus_deep_econ.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35800" height="550" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp6_rus_deep_econ.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1850" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Similar patterns emerge regarding what issues people consider to be priorities in Georgia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">All else being equal, people who trust pro-opposition TV channels are more likely to name political issues (free and fair elections, court systems, freedom of speech, media independence) and less likely to name socio-economic issues (rising prices, wages, pensions, jobs, poverty) as the most important problems that Georgia faces today than people who trust other TV channels (pro-government and non-affiliated media).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgians that trust pro-opposition TV channels are 10 percentage points more likely than people who trust pro-government media and 13 percentage points more likely than people who trust other TV channels to name political issues as the most pressing problems that the country is facing.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp7_pol_issues.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35801" height="550" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp7_pol_issues.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1850" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Georgians<img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35802" height="550" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp8_econ_issues.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1850" /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgians who trust pro-government media tend to assess the government's performance positively, both broadly, and more specifically in terms of Georgia’s efforts at integrating into the European Union, while people who trust other TV channels or trust no TV at all tend to be more critical.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">After controlling for other factors, people who trust pro-government media are 40 percentage points more likely than people who trust pro-opposition media to report that the government is doing everything in its power to ensure Georgia’s EU membership. Similarly, they are 20 percentage points more likely to say the same in comparison to people who trust other media or no media at all.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp9_gov_does_ev_EU.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35803" height="550" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp9_gov_does_ev_EU.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1850" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">All else being equal, people who trust pro-government TV channels have a 74% chance of assessing the current government’s performance positively, versus 27% for those who trust pro-opposition media. As with other issues, people who trust non-partisan TV channels and people who do not trust any TV channel at all are somewhere in between.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp10_assess_gov.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35804" height="550" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/06/pp10_assess_gov.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1850" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The above analysis is correlational rather than causal, so cannot identify causal effects of trusting or viewing partisan TV channels. However, it is evident that people who trust explicitly pro-government and pro-opposition TV channels view things differently. This association between trust in TV channels and public attitudes holds true even after controlling for partisan identification, suggesting that TV might play an important and independent role in shaping politically polarised segments of Georgian society.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: The above data analysis is based on logistic and multinomial regression models which included the following variables: age group (18-35, 35-55, 55+), sex (male or female), education (completed secondary/lower or incomplete higher education/higher), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), wealth (an additive index of ownership of 10 different items, a proxy variable), party identification (Georgian Dream, Opposition, Not affiliated) and ethnicity (ethnic Georgian or ethnic minority).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data used in this article is available </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nm2023ge/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">here</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">.</span></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-67993243038388899692023-05-30T16:00:00.011+04:002023-07-03T16:03:50.418+04:00Is Georgia's Gen Z More Politically Engaged Than Young Millennials? <p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Zachary Fabos, an International Fellow at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of CRRC-Georgia, Caucasian House, or any related entity.</i></span></strong></p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Public discourse in Georgia has in recent months raised the idea that Georgia’s young people, and particularly Gen Z, are politically interested and active, particularly following the March foreign agent protests. CRRC data suggests that a majority of 18-29-year-old Georgians are politically engaged, although the older age bracket are somewhat more interested.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/poisoned-wet-but-still-dancing-georgias-zoomers-come-of-political-age/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the conversation</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> around Georgia’s foreign agent law protests, which took place in March, Gen Z — people born between the late 1990s and early 2000s — have featured heavily. Many of the protests’ most striking moments were attributed to those recently having reached voting age, as was some of their creativity and momentum.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/georgian-dream-kill-foreign-agent-draft-law/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">The legislation</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> in question found itself between contesting visions of Georgia’s political future, with protestors suggesting it would ruin Georgia’s hopes of Western integration, and Georgian Dream arguing that the law was necessary for transparency.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">But prior to their engagement in the protests, what were Gen Z’s attitudes towards politics and how did they choose to participate? Data from CRRC-Georgia and Caucasian House’s 2021 </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/ch2021ge/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Survey on Youth Civic and Political Engagement and Participation in Peacebuilding</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> suggests that both Georgia’s Gen Z and millennials are interested in and engaged with the country’s politics, though Millennials are slightly more interested in politics.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">For the purpose of this analysis, 18-25 year-olds are considered part of Gen Z, while the survey’s older participants, those aged 26-29, are referred to as millennials despite only covering the youngest of those born between the late 1980s and mid-late 1990s.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Data from the survey suggests a majority of both age groups are partially interested or interested in the country’s politics. However, more millennials were interested, with 41% reporting interest compared to 30% of Gen Z. By comparison, Gen Z was more likely to indicate partial interest, with 39% claiming to be somewhat interested and somewhat not and 27% of millennials stating the same.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Extent-Interested-in-Georgian-Politics-Frequencies.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35644" height="336" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Extent-Interested-in-Georgian-Politics-Frequencies.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="554" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">When the data is broken down by social and demographic groups including gender, ethnicity, settlement type, and education level, a number of patterns emerge.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In terms of settlement type, young people in rural areas are six points more likely to be interested in politics than people in Tbilisi. People in urban areas other than Tbilisi are interested at a rate somewhere between the two.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">When it comes to gender, women are seven points more likely to be interested in Georgian politics than men.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Finally, people with a higher education are twenty-six and thirty-seven points more likely to report they are interested in politics than people with secondary education or vocational education, respectively.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Interested-in-Georgian-Politics-Predicted-Probabilities.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35646" height="582" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Interested-in-Georgian-Politics-Predicted-Probabilities.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1005" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: Interest is coded as expressing at least partial interest.</p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Aside from general interest, the survey asked young people if they ever engaged in a range of political actions including membership in a political party, donating to a political party, participating in a political campaign, attending a meeting with a party member or candidate, taking part in a protest, or having voted in the 2020 parliamentary elections.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">For the purpose of measuring engagement in politics among Gen Z and Millennials, the six activities were grouped together to create a political participation index, with six being all activities and zero being engagement in no activities. Overall, roughly half of respondents reported engaging in one activity, a third no activities, and the remainder two or more.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Political-Participation-Index-Frequencies.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35647" height="452" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Political-Participation-Index-Frequencies.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="923" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The survey data suggested that both generations engage in political activities at about the same rate, with a plurality having taken part in at least one action: 48% of Gen Z and 46% of millennials.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Breaking this down, education and ethnicity were the strongest predictors of how many political activities someone had taken part in.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Young people with a university education on average engaged in approximately one half of one activity more than those with other levels of education, controlling for other factors.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In contrast to perceptions in Georgia that ethnic minorities are politically unengaged, the data showed that ethnic minorities engaged in approximately one third more actions on average, controlling for other factors. While the data does not provide a clear explanation for this pattern, it may stem from the fact that this data focuses on young people, who may be more politically active than older people who are not ethnic Georgians. Alternatively, it could point towards an incorrect perception of ethnic minority political engagement more broadly.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Aside from one’s education level and ethnicity, the model demonstrated that other demographic factors were not associated with the types of civic engagement young people were engaged in.</span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Political-Participation-Index-Predicted-Probabilities-.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35648" height="680" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Political-Participation-Index-Predicted-Probabilities-.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="977" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: The chart above was generated from a regression model. The model includes ethnicity (ethnic Georgian, ethnic minority), settlement type (capital, other urban, rural), education (tertiary, secondary technical school, secondary school or lower), gender (female, male) and age group (18-25, 26-29).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The results of the youth survey suggest that among young people, interest in politics is slightly higher among millennials than among Gen Z. Within those groups, participation in political activities is more associated with education and ethnicity than most other factors. However, the data does confirm that Gen Z was interested in politics and as likely as millennials to have engaged in political activity prior to the protests against the foreign agent law in March.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: The analysis in this article makes use of logistic regression analysis. The analysis included gender (male, female), age group (18-25, 26-29), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), education (secondary or lower, secondary technical, tertiary), and ethnicity (ethnic Georgian, ethnic minority), as predictor variables. The data used in this article is available </span><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/ch2021ge/codebook/" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">.</span>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-34143584844094331662023-05-23T16:07:00.008+04:002023-07-03T16:09:17.406+04:00What Makes People Feel Insecure in Georgia? <p> <em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Dustin Gilbreath, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at CRRC Georgia. The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /></p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">A CRRC analysis found that Georgians who feel insecure in Georgia mostly attribute this to economic insecurity, but also express concern about a wider array of harder security issues.</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Georgia has faced numerous crises in recent years; from the pandemic, to the results of the war in Ukraine, via political controversy and uncertainty.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">It is consequently perhaps unsurprising that almost </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-people-in-georgia-are-highly-uncertain-about-their-economic-future/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">half the public</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> is uncertain about how they will fare economically in five years’ time. This is reflected in recent data, which shows that economic insecurity is the main reason why Georgians feel insecure in Georgia. However, a wide array of harder security issues also contribute to people feeling insecure in the country.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In the December 2022 NDI and CRRC Survey, the public was asked whether they felt insecure or secure living in Georgia. A third reported that they felt either very insecure living in Georgia (8%) or more insecure than secure (26%). By comparison, about half of the public reported that they were more secure than insecure (47%). One in five (19%) felt that they were very secure living in Georgia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Why do people feel insecure?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Amongst those who felt insecure living in Georgia, economic issues were the main reasons given for their sense of insecurity.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The top three issues named were poverty, inflation, and unemployment, with between 34% and 39% of respondents naming one of these options.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Crime was identified as the main reason for feeling insecure by </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nd2022ge/SCRLVGEO/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">a third</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> of relevant respondents, and political instability by one in five. Healthcare and the high price of drugs were named by 7% and 10% of relevant respondents, respectively. Harder security issues such as the war in Ukraine, and instability in the Caucasus were named by relatively few; 5% and 1%, respectively. </span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Chart-1-security-blog.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35522" height="1336" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Chart-1-security-blog.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2071" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: Because respondents could name up to three responses to this question, the data does not sum to 100%.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The above issues were grouped into economic, hard security, and social policy related issues. Economic issues included poverty, inflation, and unemployment. Crime, violence, political instability, territorial integrity, the war in Ukraine, actions by Russia towards Georgia, and instability in the Caucasus were grouped into hard security issues. All other options were grouped together into social policy issues.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">While the most commonly cited issues are mainly economic, people’s concerns were multifaceted. The data found that 66% of those who felt insecure named at least one economic issue, 62% named at least one hard security issue, and 32% named one social policy issue, suggesting that similar shares of people are concerned about at least one economic issue and at least one hard security issue. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2fabde; font-family: Intro; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify; text-transform: uppercase;">WHO FEELS INSECURE?</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Given the dominance of economic issues as a reason for feeling insecure, it is perhaps unsurprising that people living in poorer households are more likely to feel insecure, and cite economic issues more than people living in relatively well-off households.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">A number of other patterns are also present.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Women are ten points more likely to feel insecure in Georgia, controlling for other factors, than men. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">People in Tbilisi are 11 points more likely to feel insecure than people outside Tbilisi. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Ethnic Georgians are 23 points more likely to feel insecure in Georgia than ethnic minorities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Supporters of the United National Movement, Georgia’s main opposition party, are 24 points more likely to feel insecure in Georgia than supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party. People who support other parties or report not supporting any party are 18 points more likely to feel insecure in Georgia than supporters of Georgian Dream.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/chart-2-security-blog.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35524" height="1053" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/chart-2-security-blog.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2027" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The above data shows that a third of Georgians feel insecure in the country. While recent large-scale instability in Georgia has related more to hard security issues, such as the war in Ukraine, the data shows that economic insecurity remains the greatest concern for people who feel insecure in the country.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />Note: The social and demographic breakdowns shown in the article above were generated from a regression analysis. The analysis had whether or not someone felt insecure as the dependent variable. The independent variables included age group (18-34, 35-54, 55+), sex (male or female), settlement type (Tbilisi, other urban, or rural), education level (secondary, vocational, tertiary), wealth (an index of durable goods owned by the respondents’ household), ethnicity (ethnic minority or ethnic Georgian), employment (working, unemployed, or outside the labor force), and party support (Georgian Dream, United National Movement, other opposition, refuse to answer/don’t know/no party). This article only reports on statistically significant differences between groups.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />The data used in this article is available <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/nd2022ge/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">here</span></a></span>.</p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-69686649272627533362023-05-16T16:10:00.008+04:002023-07-03T16:12:40.693+04:00What Do The 'Tragic Consequences' Of Colour Revolutions Actually Look like? <p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared on <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-what-do-the-tragic-consequences-of-colour-revolutions-actually-look-like/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Givi Silagadze, a Researcher at CRRC Georgia.The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</em><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">While Russia regularly warns against the supposed negative consequences of ‘colour revolutions’, data from the Varieties of Democracy project suggests that anti-regime protests leading to changes of government in former Soviet countries have led to lower corruption, cleaner elections, and more vibrant civil society.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Fearing unrest in their region, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government often refer to the threat of ‘colour revolutions’ dislodging the existing government in neighbouring countries, maintaining that the West is working hard to engineer such a turn of events.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Most recently, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, claimed that the 7-9 March protests in Tbilisi were ‘of course being orchestrated from abroad’, and noted that they looked ‘very much like the Kyiv Maidan’.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The outcomes of such protests are clearly implied to be damaging, an idea occasionally explicitly stated: in 2014, Putin, commenting on a popular uprising in Russia, claimed that colour revolutions led to ‘tragic consequences’.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">But what do these tragic consequences look like? Data shows that colour revolutions in Armenia (2018), Georgia (2003), and Ukraine (2004, 2014) were associated with reduced corruption, decreased clientelistic relationships between politicians and voters, freer and more vibrant civil society, cleaner elections, and greater freedom.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">However, Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip revolution does not appear to have prompted such a clear post-revolutionary improvement on any of these measures.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project relies on expert surveys to annually assess 450+ measures of democracy in almost all countries of the world.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">One indicator measures how routinely public sector employees grant favours in exchange for bribes, kickbacks, or other material rewards. In all the selected countries except Kyrgyzstan, the post-revolutionary periods showed decreases in corruption in the public sector. The improvement was the most visible and substantial for Georgia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Another<img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35337" height="546" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/1_new_public_sector_cor.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2058" /></p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Another measure is of regime corruption, which aims at addressing the question: to what extent do political actors use a political office for private or political gain? On this measure, the picture is similar — revolutions in Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine were associated with a decline in the magnitude of regime corruption. Exceptions to the pattern were the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the 2005 Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, which did not appear to lead to any changes in regime corruption in the countries.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/2_new_regime_corruption.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35338" height="496" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/2_new_regime_corruption.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2056" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Another indicator of healthy political life is the absence of clientelism. Clientelism refers to a relationship between political actors and voters in which voters’ political support is contingent on targeted rather than public distribution of resources such as jobs, money, and services. The chart below suggests that revolutions in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan were associated with a decline in the extent to which politics was based on clientelistic relationships. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/3_new_clientelism.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35339" height="570" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/3_new_clientelism.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2076" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A free and vibrant civil society is a necessary and important component of a well-functioning democracy. The data suggests revolutions led to improved scores, with a decrease in government repression of civil society organisations.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/4_new_cso_repression.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35340" height="564" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/4_new_cso_repression.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2056" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Moreover, the revolutions in Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine were clearly associated with greater civil society participation, which implies a larger involvement of people in CSOs. As for Kyrgyzstan, it took several years before the country registered improved scores for greater civil society participation.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/5_new_cs_participation.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35341" height="568" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/5_new_cs_participation.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2068" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Revolutions also often promise cleaner elections: that is, elections with less registration fraud, systematic irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election-related violence. While Ukraine after 2014 and Kyrgyzstan after 2005 did not see such improvements, Georgia and Armenia did gain cleaner elections.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/6_new_clean_elections.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35342" height="554" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/6_new_clean_elections.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2052" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">However, the electoral democracy index (a composite index aiming at assessing to what extent a political system satisfies the core value of making rulers responsive to citizens) measured substantial improvements in the post-revolution periods of all four selected four countries, suggesting that political leaders were more responsive to the needs of their population following a revolution.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/7_new_electoral_democracy.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35343" height="532" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/7_new_electoral_democracy.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2040" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">As for freedom of expression and alternative sources of information, post-revolution improvements were seen in all four countries. However, it must be noted that in Georgia, the Rose Revolution did not result in immediate improvements. Georgia’s scores for freedom of expression and alternative sources of information significantly improved only after 2012, when the first peaceful transition of government took place in the country.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/8_new_freedom_of_expression.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35344" height="540" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/8_new_freedom_of_expression.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2060" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Finally, when it comes to civil liberties, the revolutions in the four countries led to better scores. Civil liberties are understood as the absence of physical violence committed by government agents and the absence of government constraints on private liberties and political liberties.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> <a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/9_new_civil_liberties.jpeg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-35345" height="538" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/9_new_civil_liberties.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2050" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">So what Putin describes as the ‘tragic consequences of colour revolutions’ appear, on closer examination, to be less corrupt state institutions, healthier and more democratic political processes, greater participation of civil society, and better-respected freedoms and liberties; perhaps not so tragic after all.</span></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-77124312195105685432023-05-02T16:12:00.007+04:002023-07-03T16:14:46.863+04:00Who Wants To Leave Georgia? <p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: This article first appeared on <span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by Elene Ergeshidze, a Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views expressed in the article are the author’s alone and do not reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />CRRC data suggests that every fifth person was considering leaving Georgia for work in 2023, with men, younger people, people with poorer economic standings, and supporters of the opposition reporting that emigration is a better option than staying in Georgia.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Emigration has become a hot topic in everyday discourse in Georgia; the media is rife with stories about people who have decided to leave their jobs and families in search of better opportunities in the West, with many migrants taking significant risks through illegal emigration to Mexico in search of the American Dream.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Data published by Mexico indicates that 9,468 Georgians crossed the border between 2021 and 2023. A recent report from Georgia’s National Statistics Office shows that 125,269 people emigrated from Georgia in 2022, the vast majority of whom were Georgians. This is a 25.3% increase compared to statistics from 2021.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Data from CRRC and NDI’s regular surveys suggests that a significant share of the public was considering migrating for work in 2023.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The survey, conducted in December 2022, showed that every fifth person in Georgia reported that it was very likely (3%) or likely (16%) that they will go abroad for work in the next 12 months.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data show that a number of groups are more likely to be considering migrating for work than others.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Men are ten percentage points more likely to report they are willing to go abroad for work than women, controlling for other factors. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /></p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">People under 55 are substantially more likely to be interested in going abroad for work. While 18–34-year-olds are 24 percentage points more likely to report they are interested in going abroad in the next 12 months, 35–54-year-olds are 21 percentage points more likely to say they want to leave than people 55 and older.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />After controlling for other factors, a quarter of the people in Tbilisi (27%) are considering emigrating abroad, compared with one in six residents of other urban (21%) and rural areas (16%).<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />Ethnic minorities were eight points more likely than ethnic Georgians to be interested in emigration.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />Opposition supporters are ten percentage points more likely to be interested in migrating abroad for work than Georgian Dream supporters, controlling for other factors.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />When it comes to economic factors, those who reported that their household either doesn’t have enough money for food or is only able to buy food but not clothes were more likely to report wanting to emigrate than those who are better off.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />There was no statistically significant difference between employed and unemployed people in terms of migration interest.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_35059" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; margin: 1em 40px; outline: none;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Migration_chart.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-35059" height="660" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Migration_chart.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="909" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-35059" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: The chart above was generated from a regression model. The model includes gender (male, female), age group (18–34, 35–54, 55+), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), education (secondary or lower, secondary technical, tertiary), ethnicity (Georgian, ethnic minority), party respondent names as closest to his/her views (Georgian Dream, opposition party, did not name a party (Don’t know, Refuse to answer, No party)), employment status (Employed, unemployed), and a household’s economic situation.</figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; margin: 0px; outline: none;">Despite the difficulties associated with emigration, many people see going abroad for work in 2023 as a better option than staying in Georgia. This applies especially to men, younger people, residents of Tbilisi, ethnic minorities and those who report having poorer economic standing. Time will tell how this attitude will be reflected in actual migration statistics.</p><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />This article was written by Elene Ergeshidze, a researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC-Georgia, NDI, or any related entity.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;" />The data used in this post are available here.</div>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-73371035703872052582023-04-26T16:14:00.011+04:002023-07-03T16:18:00.960+04:00Life Satisfaction And What People Teach Their Children<p><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: This article first appeared on <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features/datablog-life-satisfaction-and-what-people-teach-their-children/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Dr. Tamar Khoshtaria, a Senior Researcher at CRRC-Georgia. The views presented i</em></strong><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">n the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</em></strong><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Data from the European Values Study (EVS) of 2017 suggests that values commonly taught to children in different countries appear to be linked to how satisfied communities are with their lives. CRRC Georgia has compared the results between Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and a handful of European countries.</strong><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Most people in the world seek satisfaction with their lives; however, whether one experiences it is a matter of numerous potential factors.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">One plausible contributor to life satisfaction could be the values parents or society instil in young people.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Data from the European Values Survey suggest that countries where larger shares of the public are satisfied with their life are more likely to teach their children about tolerance, respect, and independence.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Hard work tends to be associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, a trait commonly reported in the South Caucasus and Russia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The European Values Survey suggests that Northern European countries reported the highest level of happiness and life satisfaction: data from 2017 suggested that over 90% of respondents living in Iceland (95%), Norway (94%), and Sweden (94%) say they are ‘very’ or ‘quite happy’. In addition, of the 36 countries covered in the survey, Iceland (74%), Norway (72%), and Finland (72%) reported the highest levels of satisfaction with life.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In contrast, only about one-third of people in Armenia (33%), Azerbaijan (33%), and Russia (32%) reported they were satisfied with life. Georgia stands somewhere in between, with 45% of its respondents claiming to be satisfied.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">After Ukraine (18%) and Bulgaria (17%), Georgia has the highest share of people who say they are dissatisfied with their lives (14%).</span></p><figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_34892" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 40px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-1-Tamuna-blog.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-34892" height="712" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-1-Tamuna-blog.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="979" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-34892" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Note: Respondents assessed life satisfaction on a 10-point scale, where 1 meant dissatisfied and 10 meant satisfied. Responses 1, 2 and 3 are labelled as dissatisfied on the chart above. Responses 4, 5, 6, and 7 are labelled as average, and 8, 9 and 10 are labelled as satisfied. The above chart does not include all countries in the survey due to space limitations. The graph above presents the 10 most and least satisfied countries in the study.</figcaption></figure><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">When looking at countries that are most and least satisfied with their lives and comparing them to Georgia, we see that these countries tend to have different ideas on what qualities are the most desirable for their children to learn.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In the countries most satisfied with their lives — Iceland, Norway, and Finland — tolerance and respect for other people were named by over 80% of respondents. This share is significantly lower in Georgia (54%) as well as in the countries where people are least satisfied with their lives — Armenia (56%), Azerbaijan (61%), and Russia (52%).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Iceland and Norway, though not in Finland, independence is named by over 80% of the public as a highly desirable quality for a child. The share of people naming this quality as most desirable is significantly lower in Azerbaijan (60%) and Georgia (49%) and even lower in Armenia (31%) and Russia (32%).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">While over 70% of respondents name hard work as the most desirable quality which a child should have in the South Caucasus and Russia, the percentage is significantly lower in Iceland (45%), Norway (19%), and Finland (10%).</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Some qualities were deemed desirable in all seven countries, such as having a sense of responsibility and being well-mannered.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-2-Tamuna-blog.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34893" height="703" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-2-Tamuna-blog.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="970" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Several patterns also stand out for specific countries. For example, 62% of people in Finland think determination and/or perseverance are desirable qualities, while religious belief is more desirable in Georgia (50%) than in all other countries.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Being able to save money and thrift was valued the most in Russia at 49%. A number of other characteristics show relatively little in terms of distinctive patterns. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-3-Tamuna-blog.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34894" height="707" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/image-3-Tamuna-blog.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="975" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The above data show that the most satisfied people in Europe live in Iceland, Norway, and Finland, while the least satisfied live in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Georgia stands somewhere in between.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">People who are most satisfied with their lives are more likely to teach their children qualities such as tolerance and independence, while the least satisfied communities are more likely to emphasise the importance of hard work.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Responsibility and good manners are generally valued in all of these countries, while religious faith is more important in Georgia than in the other seven countries explored in this article.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /></p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The data used in this article is available <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://search.gesis.org/research_data/ZA7500?doi=10.4232/1.13897" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">here</span></a></span>.</div>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-65896269916952206022023-04-11T16:18:00.012+04:002023-07-03T16:20:08.911+04:00Who Do Georgians Blame For Russia's War in Ukraine? <p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span>, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Dustin Gilbreath, a non-resident Senior Fellow at CRRC-Georgia.The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity.</em><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In the face of conflicting narratives about the causes of the war in Ukraine, most Georgians see Russia and Putin as responsible for the conflict, but a substantial minority lay the blame with the West. Since Russia invaded Ukraine slightly over a year ago, a war of words has erupted over who is to blame for the war, with the general consensus being that Russia needlessly invaded Ukraine.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In contrast to this consensus, the Russian government has spread propaganda blaming Ukraine for the war, </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/01/1083677765/putin-denazify-ukraine-russia-history" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">accusing</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> the country’s Jewish president of being a Nazi and stating that the country needed to be ‘de-Nazified’.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Against this backdrop, and in light of Georgia’s history with Russia, what does the Georgian public think?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Data from CRRC-Georgia and the National Democratic Institute’s regular polling in Georgia suggests that most blame Russia as a whole, but an increasing proportion of the public blames Vladimir Putin specifically for the war. And while the majority of the public report that the war is Russia or Putin’s fault, one in six Georgians report that some Western actor is at fault for the war, while one in twelve blame Ukraine.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The share of Georgians blaming Russia and Putin for the war shifted in the year following the war, with the share blaming Russia declining from 67% in March of 2022, to 54% in December of 2022. There was a simultaneous rise in the share blaming Putin specifically, from 11% in March 2022 to 25% in December of that year.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A smaller but substantial proportion of the public considers the West to be responsible for the war in Ukraine. While relatively small shares blame NATO (2-3%) and the European Union (2-4%), a relatively high percentage blame the US. One in eleven (9%) blamed the United States in March, which rose to and stayed at 15% in July and December respectively.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Similarly, relatively few Georgians blame Ukraine for the war. This share stood at 5% in March 2022, rose to 11% in July 2022, and then moved to between these shares at 8% as of December 2022.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The remainder of the public is either uncertain about who to blame for the war (14-17%) or names some other factor (2%).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-1.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34530" height="842" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-1.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1006" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">It is important to note that respondents could name up to three responses. Therefore, the shares do not necessarily sum to 100% on the chart above. In the first wave of the survey, Vladimir Putin was not specifically asked about, but respondents still named him. In subsequent waves of the survey, Vladimir Putin was added as a response option.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In the most recent wave of the survey, 59% of the public named only Russia or Vladimir Putin as responsible for the war. One in nine (11%) suggested that only Western actors were at fault for the war. A further 7% named at least one Western actor and one Russian actor. The remainder were mostly either uncertain on how to respond (15%) or refused to answer (1%). Other respondents blamed Ukraine as well as some combination of Russian and Western actors.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Who blames who?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data suggest that men, people belonging to ethnic minorities, and Georgian Dream supporters are more likely to consider the West (including the US, EU, and NATO) at least somewhat responsible for the war, than are women, ethnic Georgians, and those that do not support Georgian Dream.Ethnic Georgians, opposition supporters, those that claim they support no particular party, and people living in urban areas are more likely to blame Russia and/or Putin, compared to ethnic minorities, Georgian Dream supporters, and people in rural areas.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-2.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34526" height="537" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="942" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Ethnic Georgians, opposition supporters, those that claim they support no particular party, and people living in urban areas are more likely to blame Russia and/or Putin, compared to ethnic minorities, Georgian Dream supporters, and people in rural areas.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-3.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34527" height="518" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-3.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="942" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Men and Georgian Dream supporters are more likely to believe that Ukraine is at fault for the war than women and opposition supporters. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-4.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34528" height="452" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-4.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="946" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Women, people with vocational education, those outside Tbilisi, poorer people, and people who support Georgian Dream are more likely than men, people with secondary education, those in Tbilisi, wealthier people, and those who support the opposition to be uncertain about the causes of the war.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-4.png-5.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34529" height="1267" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/War-fault-chart-4.png-5.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="2071" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data do not suggest that any particular group is more or less likely to name at least one Russian actor and one Western actor for the war.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">While Russia’s fault in the war is questioned by relatively few in Georgia, the data do show that some groups are more likely than others to believe that Western actors or Ukraine itself is partially or fully at fault. A substantial share also remains uncertain.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: The social and demographic breakdowns shown in the article above were generated from a regression analysis. The analysis had someone’s belief about who was at fault for the war as the dependent variable, including naming Russia/Putin or not, naming any Western institution or not, naming both a Western and a Russian actor or not, and naming Ukraine or not. The independent variables included age group (18-34, 35-54, 55+), sex (male or female), settlement type (Tbilisi, other urban, or rural), education level (secondary, vocational, tertiary), wealth (an index of durable goods owned by the respondents’ household), ethnicity (ethnic minority or ethnic Georgian), employment (working, unemployed, or outside the labor force), and party support (Georgian Dream, United National Movement, other opposition, refuse to answer/don’t know/no party). This article only reports on statistically significant differences between groups.</em></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37309767.post-83380668864036296812023-04-04T15:30:00.013+04:002023-07-03T15:36:13.683+04:00 Shifting Tides: Changing Dynamics of Social Capital in Georgia and Armenia<p><i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Note: This article first appeared </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://oc-media.org/features_analysis/analysis/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">on the Caucasus Data Blog</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">, a joint effort of CRRC Georgia and OC Media. This article was written by By Milord Shengelia, a Junior Researcher at CRRC Georgia. The views expressed in the article are the author’s alone and do not reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity. </span></span></i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Both </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2021ge/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Georgia</span></a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">and </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2021am/codebook/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3366ff; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none;">Armenia</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> are known for being close-knit, but levels of social ties and trust vary both between the countries and between demographics. And while levels of trust have increased in Armenia in the last decade, in Georgia, the opposite is true.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Past research has suggested that both Georgia and Armenia have high levels of bonding social capital — levels of trust within a family and community — but low levels of bridging social capital — the ability to make bonds with people outside one’s immediate circle.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">However, recent data from the Caucasus Barometer shows that while in Armenia some measures of bonding social capital have risen significantly in the decade between 2011 and 2021, the same characteristics have remained largely stagnant in Georgia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">One measure of social capital is whether people feel that they have people that they can rely on when they have problems.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The share of the Georgian population who say that they have people they can rely on has varied slightly over the years, but remained between 34% and 40% between 2008 and 2021. The exception was a low of 29% in 2009, a year which is a relative outlier for Georgia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Armenia, however, respondents have increasingly felt that there are people that they can rely on, with this share doubling from 31% in 2011 to 60% in 2021.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-1.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34316" height="1030" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-1.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1419" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The data show a similar pattern with regard to the statement, ‘There are many people I can trust completely’.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In 2008, 31% of the Georgian public reported that this described them, compared to 18% in Armenia. Since then, however, the situation has reversed, with 25% of the public in Georgia reporting this in 2021, compared with 48% in Armenia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-2.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34317" height="1030" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1419" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The relative levels of social capital which people report is associated with a number of demographic characteristics in Georgia and Armenia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">A regression model shows that in both Georgia and Armenia, people outside of the capital cities are more likely to say that in times of trouble, they have many individuals they can turn to than those living in Tbilisi and Yerevan. Similarly, wealthier people are more likely to believe they have people to rely on in both countries.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Georgia, women are more likely to report they have plenty of people to turn to when faced with problems. In Armenia, gender is not associated with responses to this question.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Georgia, ethnic Georgians were more likely to agree compared to ethnic minorities. Due to the small number of people of ethnic minority descent in Armenia, only a small number were present in the sample. Consequently, the same association was not tested in Armenia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Employed people in Armenia, but not Georgia, are more likely to feel there are people they can rely on. Age and education are not associated with responses to this question in either country, controlling for other factors.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Regarding how much people feel they can trust others, in Georgia, this is associated with both where someone lives and their sex.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Men are more likely to say that there are many people they can trust completely compared to women, while people who live in Tbilisi are less likely to report people can be trusted, compared with people in other urban and rural areas. There were no differences associated with age, education, employment, or ethnicity on this question.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">In Armenia, wealth is a significant predictor of trusting others. Wealthier respondents were more likely to indicate that there were many people they could trust completely. In Armenia, no other variable was associated with this statement.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a class="js-lightbox" href="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-3.png" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); display: inline-block; letter-spacing: initial; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-34318" height="1030" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/04/social-capital-datablog-chart-3.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: initial; max-width: 100%; outline: none;" width="1419" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"> </p><p><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Over the last decade, the dynamics of social capital in Armenia have undergone a transformation, while in Georgia they have remained stagnant. While Georgian people had more social capital in the past, today Armenians are more likely to have stronger bonding social capital.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Note: The results presented in the above chart came from regression model of the CB 2021 wave. The regressions included the following variables: sex (male or female), age group (18–34, 35–54, 55+), settlement type (capital, urban, rural), ethnic group (ethnic majority or ethnic minority), educational attainment (secondary or lower, secondary technical, higher than secondary), employment (working, not working), wealth (ownership of 14 different durable goods, a common proxy for wealth).</em><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The views expressed in this article reflect the views of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia, or any related entity.</em><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: none; text-align: justify;" /></p>CRRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06745783835508482957noreply@blogger.com0