უკან
ორშაბათი | 02 იანვარი, 2017

Three months before the 2016 Parliamentary elections: Trust in the Central Election Commission and election observers in Georgia

The June 2016 CRRC/NDI Public attitudes in Georgia survey, conducted three months before the Parliamentary elections, provides interesting information about trust in the Central Election Commission (CEC) and election observers, both local and international.

The CEC’s role in conducting elections in Georgia has been subject to contentious political debates about the organization’s impartiality. The survey data demonstrates the public’s lack of trust in the institution. In June, only 29% of the population of Georgia believed that the CEC would conduct parliamentary elections “well” or “very well”. In contrast to this general opinion, a majority (60%) of likely voters for the incumbent Georgian Dream party believed the same, while less than a third of likely voters for the two other parties that won seats in parliament (the United National Movement and Alliance of Patriots of Georgia) believed that the CEC would conduct the elections “well” or “very well”.





Note: The shares of those reporting they would vote for either Movement State for People or Alliance of Patriots of Georgia was very small (respectively, 4% and 3%), and the results for the supporters of these two parties are only indicative.


Unsurprisingly, trust towards Georgian and international observers also differs. Overall, the population of Georgia tends to trust international observers more than Georgian observers. Forty eight percent report either “fully trusting” or “trusting” international observers, compared to 34% who report trust in Georgian observers. There are even wider gaps in trust in these two groups of observers depending on party support: while 63% of United National Movement supporters report either “fully trusting” or “trusting” international observers, only 29% “fully trust” or “trust” Georgian observers.



Note: The shares of those reporting they would vote for either Movement State for People or Alliance of Patriots of Georgia was very small (respectively, 4% and 3%), and the results for the supporters of these two parties are only indicative.


To explore the CRRC/NDI June 2016 survey findings, visit CRRC’s Online Data Analysis portal. On the topic of anomalies in the voting process, CRRC-Georgia recently conducted the Detecting Election Fraud through Data Analysis (DEFDA) project regarding the 2016 parliamentary elections. Preliminary findings can be found here. CRRC-Georgia has also previously published blog posts on the electoral process in Georgia, including on government spending before elections and public opinion shifts before and after elections.   


15.06.2015 | ორშაბათი

Trust in institutions in the South Caucasus – generating a combined score

Trust in institutions is a widely studied subject in the social sciences – typing 'trust in institutions' into Google Scholar yields roughly 2.5 million results. It is generally believed to have multi-directional relationships with different aspects of social life, with high levels of trust associated with positive phenomena – acceptance of innovation and a good business environment just to name two.
22.02.2013 | პარასკევი

Before and After the Elections: Shifting Public Opinion in Georgia

The Georgian parliamentary elections in October 2012 attracted much international interest and ushered in an important turn in Georgian politics. In 2012 CRRC conducted four waves of a Survey on Political Attitudes in Georgia for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) (funded by the Swedish International development Cooperation Agency-SIDA) in order to track changes in public opinion associated with these major political events.
28.04.2014 | ორშაბათი

Trust in Institutions in the South Caucasus

Trust in institutions has often been thought of as negatively related to perceptions of corruption in political institutions. Every year, Transparency International publishes a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which ranks countries from highly corrupt to very clean.
02.06.2014 | ორშაბათი

Finding a good job in Georgia

Data on employment and perceptions about work present an interesting lens on Georgia. This is especially true since the official unemployment rate is 15% according to Geostat in 2012, and 31% of the population is unemployed and seeking work in Georgia as of September 2013, according to the National Democratic Institute
23.06.2014 | ორშაბათი

Trust in local government in Georgia

On June 15th Georgian voters headed to the polls in local elections. There were problems leading up to the elections as detailed in last week's electoral notes. At present, results show a significant portion of positions in local government going to Georgian Dream Coalition (GD) candidates, though a number of races will go into second rounds
14.09.2016 | ოთხშაბათი

მონაცემებში ასახული ტენდენციები: სოციალური და პოლიტიკური ინსტიტუტების მიმართ ნდობის ცვლილება სომხეთში

CRRC-ს მიერ ცოტა ხნის წინ გამოქვეყნებული ბლოგის მიხედვით, საქართველოში სხვადასხვა სოციალური და პოლიტიკური ინსტიტუტის მიმართ ნდობა 2011-დან 2015 წლამდე დაეცა. ეს ბლოგი, კავკასიის ბარომეტრის მონაცემებზე დაყრდნობით, მიმოიხილავს ნდობას იგივე ინსტიტუტების მიმართ სომხეთში.
27.07.2011 | ოთხშაბათი

Rule of Law in Georgia - Opinions and Attitudes of the Population

As a part of the Caucasus Barometer Report Writing Competition held by CRRC in the spring of 2011, we would like to present the second report (the first report was published recently) written by Salome Tsereteli-Stephen. The report deals with the rule of law in Georgia and here is a short summary of Salome’s findings and an analysis of the subject.
03.05.2008 | შაბათი

Exit Polls | Take Two

Readers may recall that we voiced some concern with regards to exit polls. Here is a fascinating account, first-hand, by a reputed pollster having what they describe as an "Adventure in Baku".
21.05.2008 | ოთხშაბათი

Parliamentary Elections in Georgia | ODIHR Observation

With today's elections in Georgia, various themes come to mind. Certainly, elections have come a long way: by now, the Georgian government employs a series of highly qualified consultants, including Greenberg Quinlan Rosner of Clinton-fame, plus a Brussels-based PR firm, as well as working with experienced teams from the Baltics. This, then, is no longer the game of the 1990s, or 2003. Election observers know that they in turn will be observed, and maybe that's how it should be.
23.10.2008 | ხუთშაბათი

McCain vs Obama: Caucasus preferences


So here's something that we are a little puzzled about. The Economist is undertaking a poll to see which American Presidential candidate is favored by the world. In a very blue worldwide map, rooting for Obama, two noticeable yellowish spots, Macedonia and Georgia. McCain, of course, is popular in Georgia for having said "Today we all are Georgians" during the recent conflict.
25.12.2017 | ორშაბათი

Gender (in)equality on TV

Stereotypes are an inseparable part of every society, and present in many parts of everyday life. Georgian society is no exception in this regard. For example, some professions like teaching are stereotypically thought of as “women’s professions” while others like being a soldier are considered “men’s professions”.  The media is considered one of the strongest means through which stereotypes are strengthened or broken. In Georgia, TV is the most important media, given that according to CRRC/NDI data, 73% of the population of the country name television as their primary source of the information. In order to understand the dynamics around gender-based stereotypes on TV, CRRC-Georgia monitored the main evening news releases and political talk shows broadcast during prime time (from 18:00 to 00:00) on five national and three regional channels from September 11 to November 12, 2017 (Channel One of the Public Broadcaster, Adjara, Rustavi 2, Imedi, Maestro, Trialeti, Gurjaani, Odishi) with the support of the UN Joint Program for Gender Equality with support from UNDP Georgia and the Swedish government.
13.08.2018 | ორშაბათი

Is Georgia’s Orthodox Christian population losing (trust in) their religion?

Surveys conducted in Georgia have repeatedly shown that the Georgian Orthodox Church’s leader Patriarch Ilia II is the most trusted public figure in the country. Yet, CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer survey data from 2008 to 2017 suggests that both the share of Orthodox Christians in Georgia that trust the Church and the degree to which they trust the Church is on the decline. Although the survey does not provide direct evidence, the scandals surrounding the church in recent years could have contributed to this. For instance, in 2017, a priest was convicted of attempting to poison the Secretary of Ilia II. The government has sold land to the Church at symbolic prices on numerous occasions, often leading to negative media coverage. In 2013, priests were involved in an anti-LGBT rights riot.
18.02.2019 | ორშაბათი

NGOs in Georgia: Low trust, high expectations? (Part 2)

As discussed in the first part of this blog post, the results of CRRC-Georgia’s survey conducted for the Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative (CSSIGE) project in fall 2017 confirmed that both knowledge about NGOs and trust toward them is quite low in Georgia. This blog post looks at the inconsistency between low trust toward NGOs, on the one hand, and quite positive assessments of their activities, on the other hand.
08.04.2019 | ორშაბათი

საარჩევნო გარემო ეთნიკური უმცირესობებით კომპაქტურად დასახლებულ არეალებში უარესდება

„CRRC საქართველოს“ გამოკითხვის შედეგების მიხედვით, საარჩევნო გარემო ყველაზე მეტად პრობლემატური უმცირესობებით კომპაქტურად დასახლებულ რეგიონებშია და მდგომარეობა უფრო უარესდება.

2018 წლის საპრეზიდენტო არჩევნები, განსაკუთრებით კი — მეორე ტურში დატრიალებული მოვლენები შესაძლოა, ქვეყნის დემოკრატიული განვითარების გზაზე უკან გადადგმულ ნაბიჯად ჩაითვალოს. პირველ და მეორე ტურებს შორის მთავრობამ განაცხადა, რომ არჩევნების შემდეგ დაახლოებით 
600 ათასამდე მოქალაქეს ვალებს ჩამოაწერდა, რაც, ზოგიერთი დამკვირვებლის აზრით, ამომრჩეველთა მოსყიდვად უნდა ჩათვლილიყო...
21.10.2019 | ორშაბათი

უზენაესი სასამართლოს მოსამართლეების შერჩევა: რა იცის და რა დამოკიდებულება აქვს ხალხს საქართველოში ამ პროცესის შესახებ

საკონსტიტუციო ცვლილებებისა და საქართველოს ორგანულ კანონში შესული ცვლილებების შედეგად, უზენაეს სასამართლოში მოსამართლეთა მინიმალური რაოდენობა 28-მდე გაიზარდა. გარდა ამისა, მოსამართლეობის 10-წლიანი ვადაუვადო დანიშვნის წესით შეიცვალა და პარლამენტის წინაშე მოსამართლეობის კანდიდატების ნომინირების უფლება იუსტიციის უმაღლეს საბჭოს გადაეცა. შესაბამისად, იუსტიციის უმაღლესმა საბჭომ უზენაესი სასამართლოს მოსამართლეობის კანდიდატების შერჩევის პროცესი დაიწყო და 2019 წლის სექტემბრის დასაწყისში გამოაქვეყნა იმ 20 კანდიდატის სია, რომელიც პარლამენტს წარუდგინეს დასამტკიცებლად. კანდიდატებთან გასაუბრება პირდაპირ ეთერში გადაიცემოდა. შერჩევის პროცესი ქართულმა მედიამ საკმაოდ ფართოდ გააშუქა.
16.03.2020 | ორშაბათი

Trust in institutions continues its steady decline in Georgia

Trust in institutions has been on the decline in Georgia for a decade now. For instance, the level of trust in religious institutions declined from 86% of the public reporting trust in 2008 to 71% in 2019, with the decline being particularly prominent among Orthodox Christians, the main religious group in the country.
08.12.2020 | სამშაბათი

Georgian voters: personalities, policies, or a bit of both?

While personality in politics matters greatly for the Georgian public, data from this year shows that for Georgian Dream and United National Movement voters, policy is still important. 


A recent 
CRRC Georgia policy brief argued that what was really dividing Georgians politically was personalities rather than policies. Data from the August 2020 CRRC and NDI survey provides further evidence for this idea. 


However, the data also shows a difference between Georgian Dream (GD) and United National Movement (UNM) voters in terms of policy preferences and that economic policy is the most important issue for a plurality of voters. 

22.12.2020 | სამშაბათი

Political campaigning in Georgia: informing or mobilising?

Political campaigning takes a wide range of forms, from digital advertising to door knocking. Generally, campaigning is believed to both mobilise voters to actually go out to vote as well as win over voters, but which is most relevant in Georgia?


Data from the 
August CRRC Georgia and NDI public opinion poll indicate that people who wanted to be contacted by campaigners also appeared more partisan than others. This may suggest that campaigning in Georgia will be more effective at turning out partisans than persuading the undecided.