"Index of fear": The upside of a 4 percent approval rating

Mon, 08/03/2009 - 11:50am

Gallup has just released a survey of government approval ratings in 12 post-Soviet countries. (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are left out._ Ukraine now has the unenviable distinction of having the world's least popular government, with only 4 percent of citizens approving of their leadership. But RFE/RL's Robert Coalson provides some useful context:

You notice a big gap between the sixth least-approved governments (Latvia, at 27 percent) and the seventh (Kyrgyzstan, at 43 percent). On one side of that divide, you have, in order, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia. On the other side (the dark side), you find Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. (It is a safe bet which side Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan would find themselves on if polling were possible there.)

The Gallup chart is actually an index of fear. What it reflects is not so much attitudes toward the government as a willingness to openly express one's attitudes toward the government. As one member of RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service told me, "If someone walked up to me in Baku and asked me what I thought about the government, I'd say it was great too."

For all the talk of Ukraine's political dysfunction, getting to the point where 96 percent of the people are eager to tell an interview they hate their government is actually fairly impressive. That's cold comfort for Ukrainians but I agree with Coalson that Gallup could have provided some more context for these results.

Joshua Keating | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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Fear and opportunism

by Nemesida on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:12am

In fact, if you approach people (especially old ones) in Baku they will tell you that they are happy with the economic growth and their only wish is to see Ilham Aliyev in a presidency for life, and then add: "Allah, please may us to live in the shadow of Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban khanum for the rest of our lives"
My next question is how much is your pension? It turns out to be just $85. One old lady told me "she has to pray to thank God and praise the government, or she can loose this little as well". That is what they feel when they have to answer questions.

Unfortunately it is not only old folks. The country is full of young opportunists, some of them even are graduates of the US universities. Just one example - American Alumni Association could not decide to speak out to defend rights of two arrested bloggers - Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada in Azerbaijan (one of them was AAA member) because some board members were so hesitant about reaction of the government.

Alumni of the US universities work in the government and approve (minimum by keeping silence) harassment of journalists, illegal arrests, corruption, tortures and etc.

My question is - how come the experience of living, enjoying freedoms and exercising civil rights while they studied in the US did not inspire them to look for better alternative, to build better society, or even try to protest unjustice in the country. Graduates of western universities work for oil companies like BP or western NGOs. They don't join opposition, start their own party, only a few are in civil movement (and those are people who were in this activity before leaving for the US). Needs to be studied.