Political Attitudes in the Arab World:
Findings from the First Wave
of the Arab Barometer
Mark Tessler
University of Michigan
The Arab Barometer Project
• Jordan: Center for Strategic Studies, University of
Jordan
• Palestine: Center for Policy and Survey Research,
Ramallah
• Morocco: team at Hassan II UniversityMohammadia
• Algeria: team at University of Algiers
• Kuwait: team at Kuwait University
• Yemen: team at Yemen Interactions
• Lebanon: team at Statistics Lebanon
• U.S. Partners: University of Michigan, Princeton
University
The Arab Barometer Web site, with postings in both Arabic and
English, may be found at http://www.arabbarometer.org/. The site
contains information about the Barometer, a summary of findings,
and selected descriptive and analytical reports
• The Arab Barometer, while independent in both design and content,
cooperates with a number of other regional barometers and with other
Arab and international public opinion and political reform projects.
Web sites for some of these are listed below.
•
Global Barometer Surveys
http://www.globalbarometer.net/
•
Sub-Sahara African Barometer
http://www.afrobarometer.org/
•
Latin America Barometer
http://www.latinobarometro.org/index.php?id=150
•
East Asian Barometer
http://www.asianbarometer.org/newenglish/introduction/
•
Arab Reform Initiative
http://www.arab-reform.net/
•
World Values Survey
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
•
Program on Governance in the Arab Region
http://www.pogar.org/
•
Latin American Public Opinion Project
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/
Seven Representative National Surveys
in 2006-2007: Selected Topics
• Political Interest and Participation
• Candidate and Leadership Qualifications
• Trust in Political Institutions
• Political System Preferences
• Religion in Political Affairs
Do You Follow News about Government
and Politics in (Respondent’s Country)
40
35
30
25
20
35
15
10
27
22
15
5
0
Very Often
Often
Rarely
Never
Follows News about Government
and Politics by Country (All=57%)
90
80
70
35
60
50
35
40
30
33
34
34
32
Very
Often
44
20
10
Often
43
32
16
14
18
18
13
0
Jordan Palestine Algeria Morocco Kuwait Lebanon Yemen
Electoral Participation: Voted in the Most
Recent Election and Attended a Campaign Rally
45
40
35
30
25
20
38
39
15
23
10
5
0
Neither
Vote Only
Vote and
Rally
Percentage Who Voted in Last Election and Attended
a Campaign Rally by Sex, Education and Age (All=23%)
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
30
16
20
23
27
23
18
27
23
How Important Would You Consider Each of the
Following Factors When Deciding Which
Candidate To Support in an Election
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
21
24
26
Important
24
67
54
56
31
Party
Affiliation
Level of
Education
Religiosity
Issue
Agreement
Very
Important
How Important Is Each of the Following as a
Qualification for National Leadership:
Openness to Diverse Political Ideas
70
60
50
40
30
60
20
34
10
6
0
Very Important
Important
Unimportant
How Much Trust Do you Have In
Each of the Following Political Institutions
50
40
29
31
28
30
Much
21
20
21
10
19
15
8
0
Prime
Minister
Courts
Parliament
Political
Parties
Very
Much
Some People Have Said that the Arab World Lags
Behind Other Regions. To the Extent This Is the
Case, Which Statement Best Expresses Your
Opinion about Responsibility for this Situation?
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
41
38
21
Internal
Factors Are
Responsible
External
Factors Are
Responsible
Both Internal
and External
Factors Are
Responsible
Percentage with Very Much or Much Trust in Political
Parties by Sex, Education and Age (All=29%)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
29
29
29
34
26
31
29
28
28
Electoral Participation by
Trust in Political Parties
45
40
35
Neither
30
25
20
40
37
29
Vote
Only
39
32
21
15
10
Very Much or
Much Trust
Little or No Trust
Vote
and
Rally
Democracy May Have Its Problems but Is
Better than Any Other Form of Government
70
60
50
Strongly
Agree
40
30
58
55
52
51
20
48
50
44
Disagree
37
35
32
30
10
Agree
57
28
25
15
17
22
17
8
11
8
0
Jordan Palestine Algeria Morocco Kuwait Lebanon Yemen
There Is a Substantial Division of Opinion about
the Role of Religion in Political Affairs
60
50
40
30
30
Agree
37
20
10
24
13
0
Men of Religion
Should Have No
Influence Over
Government
Decisions
Religious Practice
Is a Private matter
and Should Be
Separated from
Politics
Strongly
Agree
Support for Democracy Is Not Influenced by Views
about the Role of Religion in Political Affairs
100
90
80
Agree
Democracy
Best Despite
Problems
70
60
50
40
89
83
Not Agree
Democracy
Best Despite
Problems
30
20
10
17
11
0
Religion Should Not Be
Separated from Politics
Religion Should Be
Separated from Politics
Would Each of the Following Be a
Suitable Way of Governing Your Country:
A Parliament with Only Islamic Parties
70
Very
Suitable
60
50
Suitable
40
65
30
A Little
Suitable
50
20
24
10
0
18
8
Religion Should Not Be
Separated from Politics
5
15
15
Religion Should Be Separated
from Politics
Not
Suitable
at All
Percentage Who Strongly Agree or Agree that
Religion and Politics Should Be Separated
by Sex, Education and Age (All=54%)
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
54
54
54
55
53
53
52
55
58
Views about Religion in Political Affairs
by Frequency of Reading the Quran
80
70
Religion
Should Not
Be Separated
from Politics
60
50
40
30
20
54
46
48
58
52
42
58
42
10
0
Reads Quran Several Times Sometimes
Daily (21%) a Week (24%)
(30%)
Rarely or
Never (25%)
Religion
Should Be
Separated
from Politics
Views about Religion in Political Affairs
by Evaluation of Political Situation
60
Religion
Should
Not Be
Separated
from
Politics
55
50
57
56
53
45
47
43
51
49
44
40
Politicians Not Politicians Care
Politics Too
Politics Not Too
Care about
about Ordinary Complicated for Complicated for
Ordinary
Citizens
Ordinary
Ordinary
Citizens
Citizens To
Citizens To
Understand
Understand
Religion
Should Be
Separated
from
Politics
Electoral Participation
by Views about Islam in Politics
45
40
35
30
Neither
25
20
38
38
37
39
15
10
24
24
Vote
Only
Vote
and
Rally
5
0
Religion Should Not Be
Separated from Politics
Religion Should Be Separated
from Politics
Trust in Political Parties
by Views about Islam in Politics
80
70
Little
or No
Trust
60
50
40
73
70
30
20
30
10
27
0
Religion Should Not Be
Separated from Politics
Religion Should Be Separated
from Politics
Much
or
Very
Much
Trust
Some General Conclusions
Only 50-60 Percent Report Political Interest and Involvement
Education and Openness to Diverse Political Ideas Considered
Important Qualifications for Political Office and Leadership
Only about 50 Percent Trust Political Institutions; Even Fewer
Have Much Trust in Political Parties
Most Believe Democracy Is the Best Political System; There is
Disagreement about Whether Religion Should Play a Role in
Political Affairs
Religiosity and Unfavorable Political Judgments Are Associated
Support for Religion in Political Affairs; This Support Is Not
Associated with Political Involvement or Trust in Political
Parties