Most Azeris back democratic rule: poll
More than half of Azerbaijanis consider living in a
democracy very important, a new worldwide poll has found.
54 percent of respondents expressed this view in the WorldPublicOpinion.org poll conducted in 24 countries. Also, 25 percent of Azerbaijanis said democracy was relatively important, 13 percent said it was not that important, and 5 percent said it was not important at all.
Asked ``How freely can people in your country express unpopular political views without fear of reprisal?``, 13 percent of respondents said citizens were absolutely free to do so, while 39 percent said they were relatively free, and 42 percent claimed they were not that free to speak their minds.
People in the former Soviet republics do not arduously support free expression of political views, though, in some countries - including Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Russia - this was widely seen as very important, according to the poll of 21,285 respondents conducted between April 4 and June 30.
Overall, political intolerance is pervasive around the world; people are not completely free to express unpopular views and opposition parties do not get a fair chance to express their views and influence government decisions, many respondents said.
The poll results indicated that no nation has a majority of people who believe they are completely free to express unpopular views without fear of reprisal. Only four nations have majorities saying that opposition parties mostly have a fair opportunity to express their views and influence the government. Majorities in 20 nations say legislators feel free to express views that differ from those of their party only sometimes, or rarely.
This perceived lack of tolerance contrasts sharply with overwhelming support for the freedom to express diverse political views, which is supported by majorities in all nations.
90 percent of respondents in all nations surveyed said it is important to live in a democratically governed country, with 67 percent saying it is very important. Among those who say it is very important to be free to express unpopular views, 80 percent also say it is very important to live in a democracy.
The countries surveyed comprise 64 percent of the world`s population, including most of the largest nations.
WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaborative project involving research centers worldwide, is managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
54 percent of respondents expressed this view in the WorldPublicOpinion.org poll conducted in 24 countries. Also, 25 percent of Azerbaijanis said democracy was relatively important, 13 percent said it was not that important, and 5 percent said it was not important at all.
Asked ``How freely can people in your country express unpopular political views without fear of reprisal?``, 13 percent of respondents said citizens were absolutely free to do so, while 39 percent said they were relatively free, and 42 percent claimed they were not that free to speak their minds.
People in the former Soviet republics do not arduously support free expression of political views, though, in some countries - including Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Russia - this was widely seen as very important, according to the poll of 21,285 respondents conducted between April 4 and June 30.
Overall, political intolerance is pervasive around the world; people are not completely free to express unpopular views and opposition parties do not get a fair chance to express their views and influence government decisions, many respondents said.
The poll results indicated that no nation has a majority of people who believe they are completely free to express unpopular views without fear of reprisal. Only four nations have majorities saying that opposition parties mostly have a fair opportunity to express their views and influence the government. Majorities in 20 nations say legislators feel free to express views that differ from those of their party only sometimes, or rarely.
This perceived lack of tolerance contrasts sharply with overwhelming support for the freedom to express diverse political views, which is supported by majorities in all nations.
90 percent of respondents in all nations surveyed said it is important to live in a democratically governed country, with 67 percent saying it is very important. Among those who say it is very important to be free to express unpopular views, 80 percent also say it is very important to live in a democracy.
The countries surveyed comprise 64 percent of the world`s population, including most of the largest nations.
WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaborative project involving research centers worldwide, is managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
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