Executive summary of Pace National Survey Report

1 Survey of Lebanese citizen’s priority concerns and attitudes towards civic engagement

Executive summary of the “SURVEY OF LEBANESE CITIZENS’ PRIORITY

CONCERNS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT”

8 July 2012 This document was produced by Management Systems International for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report from a survey of Lebanese citizen’s priority concerns and attitudes towards civic engagement is produced by the Promoting Active Citizen Engagement (PACE) program under funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The survey was carried out by Statistics Lebanon Ltd in March and April 2012, covering both urban and rural areas and all governorates. A nationally-representative sample of 2,000 Lebanese people aged 16 and above was interviewed with a face-to-face questionnaire mixing open and closed questions. The data are disaggregated by age, sex, district, income level, employment status and confession. The poll researched Lebanese citizens’ opinions and perceptions regarding the following:

a) Main concerns among the Lebanese public relating to political, economic, environmental and social issues on both the national and community levels

b) Attitudes toward civic/political engagement c) Level of the public’s confidence in the capacity of various institutions, including civil

society organizations (CSOs), to represent them d) The public’s view of CSOs e) Sources of news and information for the public and level of trust in each f) Frequency of internet and social media usage.

The survey’s main findings are:

A. Main concerns:

When asked to provide, unprompted, up to three issues they consider as main national and local concerns, respondents cite: Top 5 concerns at National and Community Level- Uncategorized National % Community % High cost of living 31.5 Electricity 36 Political situation 29 High cost of living 31.5 Economic situation 23 Unemployment 22 Security situation 22 Poverty 13 Electricity 20 Water problems 11.5

In % of responses Because the Lebanese name such a large number of major challenges both at the national and community level, many of which overlap, such as the high cost of living, cost of education, cost of housing, high fuel prices etc., this report regrouped the spontaneous responses into seven general categories, providing a sufficient number of cases for more in-depth analysis:


Main concerns expressed by the citizens, regrouped in general categories

In a country plagued by political and economic instability, it is not surprising that the economic situation topped the list of national-level concerns mentioned spontaneously by the respondents, followed by the political situation and security. Social concerns are less prominent, particularly at the national level, while the environment is mentioned only once, with pollution being at the very low end of the hierarchy of community concerns. At the community level priorities change markedly. The top concerns mentioned are those that strike close to home: infrastructure (especially electricity), cost of living, unemployment, and social issues. Politics and security were not cited as main community concerns. When they are mentioned as a community challenge, this is in reference to national politics. This suggests that the March 8-March 14 polemic so pervasive at the national level may be less relevant at the local level.

A further exploration of people’s views on a given list of issues provides a better understanding of what lies behind those broadly-defined top concerns:

SECTOR TOP 3 MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES Social • Drugs (27%)

• Corruption in society (16%) • Sectarianism (11%)

Political • Security and safety (23%) • Political stability (18%) • Corruption in government (14%)

Economy • Poverty (24%) • Finding job opportunities (23%) • Cost of living (18%)

Environment • Alternative energy sources (24%) • Quarries (18%) • Deforestation (17%)

Those guided responses are consistent with respondents’ unprompted choices. There is one exception: although public infrastructure was the topic spontaneously cited most often, it does not belong to the top three most important social issues cited. This might be because, when it comes to social issues, respondents prioritize those that affect as much their values as their lives.

18% 23%

36% 45% 45%

59% 55%

16%

44%

84%

50%

11% 16%

47%

PoliticalInstitutions

Social Infrastructure Economic / Highcost of living

Security PoliticalOutcomes

Economic /General

National Community


B. Main concerns, disaggregated per sub-groups of population.

The Lebanese demonstrate common concerns on a large number of issues, whatever their background. Some differences appear when it comes to confessional groups or regional belonging. When they exist, socio-economic variations seem to be mainly explained by geography, showing often a divide between the North, Mount Lebanon and Beirut on one side and Nabatieh, the Bekaa and the South on the other. The Bekaa appears often to be the most atypical amongst governorates. When they exist, socio-political variations seem to be explained by confessional belonging, with the Shiites often apart from the views of other confessions. Nevertheless, many issues show a high level of consensus. Amongst them are the high cost of living, unemployment, poor infrastructure (most notably electricity), corruption, political instability, and sectarianism.

This is also evident when looking at other categories of population. There are no major differences in the hierarchy of priorities between urban and rural populations save for some predictable topics such as the cost of housing. The same can be observed when data are disaggregated by gender, although differences appear on very specific issues linked to women’s rights, such as gender-based violence or a women’s quota in parliament. There is no visible generation gap. All age groups share the same concerns, except for unemployment, to which youth give a higher priority. Youth do not appear more “progressive” than earlier generations, even on social issues such as the place of women in political life, drugs, the environment or political issues. Poor people are more likely to mention issues related to the high cost of living or infrastructure but are less concerned about social challenges or security.

C. Attitudes towards institutions and civil society

• The institution that enjoys the highest level of confidence from a majority of the

population is the Lebanese Armed Forces, largely perceived as non-partisan. Other institutions related to security enjoy also a fair level of confidence, suggesting that the Lebanese have general confidence in the security services to protect the people, considering that security was cited as one of their main concerns.

• Civil society organizations (CSOs) are the second most trusted institution, scoring above 80% (when adding responses “great deal of” and “some degree of” confidence). This level of trust is highest amongst Christians and Sunnis and lowest amongst Shiites. They are mostly seen as relief providers. This seems to show greater Lebanese confidence in and reliance upon CSOs to provide services that the national and local governments cannot or do not provide effectively.

82%

54% 46% 44%

20% 18% 12% 10% 8% 4%

11% 14% 20%

34% 39% 45%

54% 60%

LebaneseArmed Forces

Civil Societyorganizations

(NGOs)

GeneralSecurity

Police/lawenforcement

The JudicialSystem

Local/citygovernment

The parliamentPolitical parties Government

Degree of Confidence in Institutions Great deal of confidenceNo confidence


• While 48% show confidence at some level in the local government, only 10% view it as one of the institutions that best represents their interests.

• The level of distrust is particularly high for national, political institutions such as the parliament, the government and political parties, which should be the institutions in charge of responding to citizens’ other main concerns: the economy, infrastructure and political stability. This appears reflected in the fact that 58% of respondents consider that no political party represents their views and in the decrease in their intention to vote in the next parliamentary elections (59.6%), in comparison to the 78.6% who voted in the last parliamentary elections in 2009.

All of this suggests both a growing disconnect and dissatisfaction between the citizenry and the institutions responsible for responding to their concerns and an overall disillusioned view of citizens’ capacity to bring change through elections, possibly due to the high level of political polarization in the country. Such findings are consistent with those from the Arab Barometer’s latest study, suggesting that these views are well entrenched.

More specifically, respondents’ views on civil society are:

• Civil society is considered effective by 81% of the population. This perception is highest among Christians and urban populations and lowest amongst Shiites and rural populations.

• 16.5% are unable to mention a single CSO by name.

• The Lebanese Red Cross is the only organization that enjoys a wide level of recognition and is considered to represent best the population’s concerns. It is followed distantly by charitable nation-wide organizations, then by many local religious and charitable institutions, cited only by a few persons.

• The most frequently cited CSOs are those that combine a regular presence in the media and a focus on relief work. Advocacy-oriented NGOs and nation-wide, non-relief oriented organizations are mentioned spontaneously by very few respondents, although some are well-known and would most likely have been recognized if they had been cited in the questionnaire.

• The main mode of support is through donations.

All of this suggests a perception of CSOs as relief charities, rather than vehicles to carry the voice of citizens, advocating on the people’s behalf for better policies on the topics that matter most to them. CSOs intending to mobilize citizens around changing policies will need to make active efforts to build an effective and engaged constituency. This is particularly the case in the Bekaa, which shows the least favorable attitudes towards civil society of all governorates.


D. Civic engagement

• 61% of respondents feel they cannot make a change on the topics they have identified

as priorities, which may reflect the disconnect noted above between the citizenry and institutions. This percentage is still 53% at the community level, where one could have expected citizens would feel more involved and able to effect local change.

• Youth are no more confident in their capacity to make a change than their parents or grand-parents.

• Despite the fact that women equally participated in the last municipal and parliamentary elections, they are less likely to cite their will to participate in the upcoming elections (57%) compared to 63% of men.

All of this points to a strong need to revive the interest of the Lebanese, and particularly that of youth and women, in participating in the public decisions that affect their daily lives. Given its positive image, civil society could play a role in this regard, both at the local level and through advocacy with national institutions. As noted above, this would require continuous effort on its part to build and motivate a constituency.

There is a strong willingness to cooperate with persons from other confessions (89%), mostly through dialogue (80%). People engage with other confessions based on proximity: being neighbors, colleagues or school friends. Tellingly, only 3% would engage with other confessions based on shared political views. This shows a potential readiness to cooperate across confessional lines at the community level, which could be harnessed by a non-confessional civil society, given the overall positive image of CSOs.

53%

25%

16%

6% 1%

61%

21%

13% 5%

1%

I can’t make a change I can somewhat make achange

I can make an averagechange

I can make a big change. Don’t know, no answer

Making a difference

Community level National Level


E. Media Usage

• The Lebanese are mostly viewers of television, with 89% watching TV daily. This is also

by far their primary source of information. The main channels for local or national news in terms of viewership are LBCI, New TV, and MTV. Other types of media are used much less frequently.

• Although internet is used by only 50% of the population, almost two thirds of its users access information through it.

• Radio is used daily by only 27% of the population and not considered as a major source of information. Printed press fares even worse, with only 11% of daily readers, out of which a mere 20% considers it as a source of information.

• Social media is the most frequent usage of internet, at 86%. Facebook is the social media of choice (97%), followed distantly by MSN (24%) and Twitter (11%).

This indicates strongly that any media outreach to the population should use television and web-based media. Engaging with radio channels or print media may only be effective if they have also an online presence or intend to build one, particularly if they reinforce their news contents such as with citizen journalism, a resource that most traditional media have not yet tapped into.

89% 87%

41%

27%

11% 8% 2%

8% 16% 15%

3% 11%

51% 57%

74%

Watch TV Use a cell phone Use the internet Listen to the radio Read the newspaper

Daily Moderate use Don’t use / Rarely use

Executive summary of Pace National Survey Report

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