Reecent Poll from PCPO (fwd)

["Clement M. Henry" <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>]

I'm not quite sure what to make of this poll but it should be of interest
to anyone who may be studying phenomena of civil society in the West Bank
(including East Jerusalem) and Gaza.

*****************************
Clement M. Henry
Professor of Government
University of Texas at Austin
Austin TX 78712
tel 471-5121, fax 471-1061

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 09:02:11 +0200
From: Dr.Kukali <pcpo@shepherdsfield.info>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:@mail.p-ol.com;>
Subject: Reecent Poll from PCPO

Subject: Recent poll from PCPO


Dear Sir / Madame,

 It is our pleasure to present to you our most recent poll, We hope that results of the poll will be of benefit to all concerned parties.

Note: you can get it from the internet by visitng this site: www.yusuf-abufara.net in english and arabic language.

If you want it in Arabic version please find attach...

Poll no. 95                                     March 25, 2002

 A Public Opinion Survey conducted by the PCPO on College and University Students

(77.4%) believe to varying degrees that it is necessary to have Civic Society Organizations (CSO’s)  for the promotion of democracy.
(79.7%) positively evaluate the role of Palestinian Universities in educating students about   democracy and the Civic Society.
(50.4%) in favor of more empowerment to CSO’s for them to play a better role in the     democratic process.
(35.6%) evaluate the CSO’s performance as good.
(57.0%) believe that CSO’s are not serious in helping the youth pass leisure time.
(34.0%) believe that the relationship between CSO’s and institutions of the Palestinian    Authority (PA) is competitive.
(42.1%)  give a bad evaluation on the PA’s performance.
(52.3%) believe that CSO’s put more weight in political activities than in social activities.
(62.7%) believe that corruption exists in CSO’s.
(50.4%) believe that the PA does not respect the right of citizens for freedom of expression.

 A recent poll was conducted by the PCPO, supervised by Dr. Nabil Kukali, and included a random sample of 500 University and College students from the West Bank including East Jerusalem, 18 years and older. The poll reveals that (24.8%) of the respondents positively evaluate the performance of the PA, while (27.5%) evaluate it as very bad, (17.2%) fair, (14.6%) poor, (7.1%) very good, and (8.8%) express no opinion.
 When asked “ Does the PA respect the right of citizens to freely express their opinion (even if it was opposite to that of the PA), (50.4%) of the students say no, while (23.2%) say yes, and (26.4%) are noncommittal. However, (35.6%) evaluate the performance of the Palestinian CSO’s as good, while (24.7%) evaluate it as fair, (18.9%) very bad, (9.7%) poor, (4.2%) very good, and (6.9%) say “do not know”.
 In addition, (48.8%) of the respondents believe that Palestinian CSO’s do not exert enough pressure on the PA to formulate laws that will respect the citizens’ civil rights, while (26.9%) believe they exert a fair amount of pressure, (8.5%) enough pressure, and (15.8%) refrain from answering this question.
 A plurality (52.3%) believes that Palestinian CSO’s put more weight in political activities than in social activities, while (17.4%) believe the opposite, and (30.3%) are noncommittal.
 When asked “ How do you evaluate democracy in CSO’s?” (24.8%) of the respondents believe it is fair, while (22.7%) believe it is very bad, (21.0%) poor, (20.3%) good, (4.9%) very good, and (6.3%) say, “ do not know”.
 A substantial majority (62.7%) believes that corruption exists in the CSO’s, while (13.1%) believes it somewhat exists, (16.5%) does not exist, and (7.7%) express no opinion.
 However, (45.4%) of the respondents believe that CSO’s enjoy a somewhat grass-root support, while (36.2%) believe that they do not enjoy any support, (8.6%) a wide grass-root support, and (9.8%) are noncommittal.
 A substantial majority (63.1%) believes that it is very important to have the contribution of a large proportion of the public to upgrade the CSO’s standing and performance, while (26.6%) believes it is somewhat important, (6.4%) somewhat unimportant, (1.9%) absolutely unimportant, and (2.0%) express no opinion. In addition (40.2%) evaluate the role of the Palestinian Universities in educating students about civic society and democracy in Palestine as good, while (39.5%) evaluate it as fair, and (20.3%) as negative.

Participation in Civic Society Organizations CSO’s:

 When asked “Are you a member or involved in activities of one of the CSO’s?” a plurality (56.1%) gives a negative answer, while (35.7%) gives a positive answer, and (8.2%) refrains from answering.
 A substantial majority (65.6%) of the students believe that there is a possibility for the youth to get involved in CSO’s, while (15.2%) believe the opposite, and (19.2%) express no opinion.
 Also (27.8%) of the respondent students believe that the youth contribution in Palestinian CSO’s is effective, while (37.2%) believe it is fair, (21.7%) ineffective, and (13.3%) say “do not know”.
 In addition, (57.0%) of the students believe that CSO’s are not serious in helping the youth pass  leisure time, while (38.1%) believe the opposite, and (4.9%) are noncommittal.
 A considerable majority, (60.3%) sustains that Palestinian CSO’s are concerned for educating youth about democracy and human rights, while one-third (33.3%) believes they are unconcerned, and (6.4%) refrains from answering.
 When asked “if given the chance to join one of the Palestinian CSO’s, which one would you choose?” (29.9%) say they would choose those concerned for youth, while (19.4%) say they would choose those concerned for democracy and human rights, (13.9%) for societal development, (11.3%) for childhood, (9.8%) for women, (6.8%) for health work, (3.2%) for agriculture, and (5.7%) say would choose otherwise.

CSO’s and democracy:

 (47.7%) of the respondent students say that it is necessary to have CSO’s in the Palestinian territories for promoting democracy, while (29.7%) say it is somewhat necessary, (7.1%) unnecessary, and (15.5%) express no opinion.
 When asked “How do you evaluate the performance of CSO’s in developing democracy?” (38.5%) of the respondents evaluate it as fair, while (29.1%) evaluate it as good, (26.1%) as poor, and (6.2%) say, “do not know”.
 (35.3%) of the respondent students give a negative evaluation of the level of coordination among various CSO’s to promote democracy and the civic society concepts, while one-third (33.0%) give a rather fair evaluation, (16.2%) give a positive evaluation, and (15.5%) express no opinion.
 When asked “ Are you in favor or against more empowerment to CSO’s to play a better role in the democratic process”? A plurality (50.4%) is in favor, while (30.8%) is against, and (18.8%) says, “do not know”.
Role of CSO’s:
 (52.9%) of the respondent students believe that Palestinian CSO’s should focus on both political and social activities in order to activate their role, while (14.4%) believe that they should focus on political activities and neglect social ones, (12.3%) are for focusing on social activities and neglecting political ones, and (20.4%) refrain from answering.
 When asked “How do you evaluate the role of CSO’s in promoting equality between men and women?” (37.9%) give it a fair evaluation, while (25.9%) give it a good evaluation, (24.4%) give a poor evaluation, and (11.8%) say “do not know”.

Relationship with the PA:

 One-third (34.0%) of the respondent students state that the relationship between CSO’s and the PA is competitive, while (22.7%) state it is integrant, (27.4%) believe that there is no relationship, and (15.9%) are noncommittal.
  In addition (36.9%) of the respondent students support the inclination of some PA institutions to assume a larger role in censoring internal policies, budgets, and activities of CSO’s, while (35.3%) oppose, and (27.8%) are noncommittal.
   When asked “Do you believe that the PA puts obstacles to undermine the role of CSO’s in fulfilling their obligation towards the society?” (36.3%) say it fairly undermines, while (26.8%) say it slightly does undermine, (20.4%) largely does, and (16.5%) say “do not know”.
 However, (41.0%) evaluate the level of coordination between CSO’s and the PA in the domain of youth as bad, while exactly one-third (33.3%) evaluate it as fair, (11.0%) as good, and (14.7%) say “do not know”.

Few facts about the poll:

 President of the PCPO, Dr. Nabil Kukali, stated that the poll was conducted February 18 – 28, 2002, and that the average age of the respondents was (20.75) years. Dr. Kukali added that the margin of error was (±4.38) percent points.
 Director of Public Relations at the PCPO, Dr. Walid Shomaly expressed sincere thanks to Tamkeen personnel for making this poll a success. Dr. Shomaly added that the percentage of female respondent students reached (51.1%), while that of male ones was (48.9%). He also stated that the composition of the sample according to social status was as follows: (8.1%) married, (90.6%) single, and (1.3%) other.
 Dr. Shomaly pointed out to the composition of the sample according to the location of residence, which was as follows,: (45.6%) city, (44.8%) village, (9.6%) refugee camps. He added that (93.2%) of the respondents, were Muslims while (6.8%) of them were Christians. As to their religious commitment, the composition of the sample was as follows: (12.2%) secular, (41.0%) religious, (39.7%) traditional, (7.1%) religious activist.



Contact Persons: Dr. Nabil Kukali, Dr. Walid ShomalyTel: 02- 277 4846 Fax: 02 2772034. Mobile:052 801653/ 055 576290E-mail: Kukali@p-ol.com

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