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274-ee635c77 Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo - Lanzan encuesta Barómetro de la Américas Sobre la Cultura Política de la Democracia en la República Dominicana

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CEGES, Press Releases

Publication date:

January 13 2011

Barometer of the Americas survey launched on the Political Culture of Democracy in the Dominican Republic

Barometer of the Americas survey launched on the Political Culture of Democracy in the Dominican Republic

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Center for Governance and Social Management of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (CEGES / INTEC) launched the study "Political Culture of Democracy in the Dominican Republic 2010", published by the Barometer Survey of the Americas.

The results of the survey were presented on January 13 of this year by Dr. Rosario Espinal, a sociologist and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and co-author of the study.

The Barometer of the Americas is a survey of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) that aims to measure democratic values ​​and political behavior in the Americas. Between 2004 and 2010, more countries have joined the project, and surveys are currently being conducted in 25 countries in the region, including the north, center and south of the American continent and also the Caribbean. In total, more than 40 thousand people are interviewed.

The objective of the 2010 study has been, once again, to know and measure the democratic values ​​and the political behavior of the population. On this occasion, the special theme of the report is the impact of the economic crisis on the population and politics, who have been most affected by the economic crisis, what has been the impact of the crisis on democratic values ​​and support for the democracy as a political system, among other relevant issues.

During the presentation of the survey, the Acting Deputy Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the country, Robert Rhodes, pointed out that the survey data are of great importance and usefulness for representatives of the government, political parties, civic groups, international cooperation agencies, academics, political analysts and for the media.

"USAID understands that the data obtained in the survey serves so that Dominican citizens can identify weak or vulnerable areas of the system in order to put corrective measures and make decisions that strengthen Dominican democracy. We hope that this survey, and its database, which is public and accessible to all, will be useful for the design and definition of policies that strengthen the country's democracy and governability, "said Rhodes.

The AmericasBarometer is the most extensive study of political culture in the Americas.

The 2010 Americas Barometer sample for the Dominican Republic was designed by Gallup Dominican Republic in consultation with sampling experts under the general direction of Dr. Mitchell A. Seligson, Director of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) , at Vanderbilt University.

Field work was carried out by Gallup Dominican Republic during the month of February of 2010. The final size of the Dominican sample was 1,500 people, divided into four regions: metropolitan, north, east and south.

Among the main findings of this last study, the following data stand out:

  • In the Dominican case, the survey highlights that democracy has shown durability and stability during the last three decades.
  • This round of the AmericasBarometer provides evidence that, despite the economic crisis, support for democracy has not diminished in the region, although in some countries there have been declines. The countries that experienced a significant decrease in support for democracy in 2010, compared to the 2008, are: Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela, Canada and the Dominican Republic. On the other hand, Chile is the only country where support for democracy increased significantly between 2008 and 2010.
  • Some countries experienced changes in support for the political system. Canada, Belize and the Dominican Republic suffered a statistically significant (although quantitatively small) decline in support for the political system from 2008 to 2010.
  • In the Dominican Republic, as in the entire region, a high segment of the population perceives that there is economic crisis, 97% in the Dominican case, and half of them consider that the crisis is very serious.
  • The largest percentage of the population interviewed attributes responsibility for the crisis to the current Dominican government (25%), followed by the country's economic system (23.9%), and the previous government (11.1%).
  • In the Dominican Republic, 66% of respondents did not lose their job in the last two years, 7.8% lost it but found another, 14.9% lost it and had not found another one, and 11.2% did not work by their own choice or inability.
  • In addition, the Dominican Republic registers the second highest percentage of the entire region of people who reported a decrease in income in their homes in the last two years (41.1%).

Unemployment has affected different segments of the Dominican population differently. Men have suffered more job losses than women, and men have found it more difficult to find a new job. Younger people have lost more jobs and it has become more difficult to find another job. For more information on the survey, visit the link http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/dr/2010-culturapolitica.pdf.

In some countries, such as the Dominican Republic, support for the system has declined more than expected in relation to the evaluation of the government's economic performance.

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