“Belarusianization” of the Public Mood

The Institute of Sociology of Ukraine has completed a fresh survey as part of its annual monitoring of public opinion that has been held since 1994 and which in fact is a sociological map of Ukraine. The poll, consisting of a set of traditional questions and an additional questionnaire with so-called one-time questions that allow for a more painstaking analysis of certain social processes and trends, was conducted in March. It will be presented by the media to the general public in the nearest future. Meanwhile, one of the pilot versions of the survey results, designed primarily for use within the institute, has been forwarded to the President of Ukraine’s Secretariat. The Day’s correspondent also managed to obtain the survey results.

It is only natural that since the past year was marked by such stormy events as the presidential elections and the Orange Revolution, which brought about a power change in Ukraine, sociologists would be able to spot certain changes in the public mood, which they did - and very many at that. For example, there was a twofold increase in the number of people who “take a great interest” in politics: from 11% in March 2004 to 21%. The past year has also seen the “Belarusianization” of the population’s economic preferences, which are primarily characterized by a steep increase in anti-market feelings and a negative attitude toward the privatization of land, and small and especially large enterprises. For instance, the number of those who favor the transfer of land into private ownership has fallen from 42% to 27.8%. There has also been an essential drop in the number of those wishing to start a business of their own or to work for a private entrepreneur. In the latter case, the figure has dropped by 15%.

Some questions probed post-revolutionary moods. More than two months after the vote rerun, 55.7% and 27.9% of respondents said they voted for Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych, respectively. The institute’s deputy director, Yevhen Holovakha, noted that this is a natural result from the viewpoint of public opinion transformations: usually, some time after elections some voters tend to “forget” whom they voted for and join the winner’s electorate. In the first days after the presidential elections, the population mostly displayed positive emotions: hope (38%), satisfaction (27%), and joy (19%). There were negative reactions, too (perhaps among voters who supported Yanukovych): alarm (18%), disappointment (15%), and fears (13.5%). These are just a few of the eye-catching figures and trends from this extensive study. For more details, see one of the newspaper’s upcoming issues as well as our regular column “ The Day’s Poll.”