A recent survey on democracy in Jordan showed:
81% agreed that the will of the public should be the basis of the government’s authority.
71% believe that the government should be selected through elections in which all citizens can vote
44% of respondents said the will of the public should have a greater influence over the government,
27% thought it should stay the same, while
17% felt that the public should have less influence over government affairs.
In other words, most people want their will to be the foundation of the government’s authority, they just want to do it without influencing government.
Which is like saying, most people want to go swimming, they just don’t want to get wet.
This is part of the same polling that was done earlier this month that showed most Jordanians are in favor of tighter media restrictions.
sigh.
Did this survey fall from the sky or what? I honestly believe that this survey was wriiten by the Minister if Information for the people to shut our mouths. For Gods sake, no one ever apprached me or anyone I know for any survey!
I mean who would agree that its ok for the Government to keep screwing the Jordanian people making their life more misrebale and agree 90% agree on that, reminds me of elections in Syria and Egypt where 99.999% of the people vote for Asad and Mubarak!
No seriously where the hell am I when they conduct their stupid surveys?
I actually wonder if the issue is with how the question was asked. I’d like to see less public influence over government. but, what I mean by that is less influence of WASTA and waste by the people, not less influence of the people’s values, wants, and needs. So, I think the survey was likely seriously flawed…
“Some 44 per cent of respondents said the will of the public should have a greater influence over the government, 27 per cent thought it should stay the same, while 17 per cent felt that the public should have less influence over government affairs.”
27+17=44-so the soceity is devided in the middle..Hmmmm..Now add the two number 44+44=88%, and compare it with the first two numbers in your excerpt..It doesn’t make sense..There must be something skewing the data…I wonder what that is?
“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” — Benjamin Disraeli.
Numbers are important indicators.It is scary though that untill now a sense of effective activism is rarely practiced .The governmnet should not worry ever I guess and we can go on throwing a few fits here and there without any impact!these numbers are a call to organize and create new parties with young forward looking energies and mind that have not been seduced or subdued by the system.The value of public good remains a leap of faith that we as a people and as a government need to take .. somehow I feel the dialogue never started….
These figures mean very little without knowing who collected the data, whether s/he was properly qualified, what was the purpose, how the survey was designed, who was selected for the sample, and all the other particulars.
Disraeli was right.