Crisis of confidence about politicians? / International GfK survey on the confidence people have in political and business leaders and organizations
10.08.2004, 10:48
Nuremberg, Germany 10.08.2004 (PROTEXT/ots) - It is bad news for politicians and their image in Europe as well as in the USA. GfK Ad Hoc Research Worldwide questioned people in 19 European countries and the USA and found that the majority of the approx. 1,000 respondents in each country believed that politicians were not trustworthy. Managers of big companies and journalists fared little better in the survey. In all of the countries the majority of respondents indicated that they trusted teachers and doctors more than any of the other professions listed. The armed forces, police and the clergy come next and are seen as trustworthy by the majority of people in most of the countries surveyed. However, in Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic, the image of the police is not quite as good. Although positive, trust in the clergy in the Czech Republic, Spain, France and Belgium is below average.
Overall, managers and political, social and commercial organizations are regarded particularly favourably in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Turkey, where the outcome was above average. Hungarians, Greeks and the French are particularly critical of their leaders.
GfK Trust Index: Politicians have the worst reputation GfK Trust Index* Mai 2004 Politicians Managers of large enterprises Journalists Lawyers Clergy Policemen the Army Doctors School Teachers Austria 15 34 35 55 66 76 62 91 76 Belgium 25 45 56 49 48 73 56 89 82 Denmark 26 60 25 61 79 85 60 81 76 Finland 24 52 43 72 76 90 83 92 84 France 12 33 31 47 38 63 63 86 78 Germany 6 18 36 62 67 78 68 82 76 Greece 11 40 43 31 61 60 67 78 80 Italy 9 31 28 33 51 79 72 76 66 Netherlands 32 35 37 60 57 74 70 91 90 Spain 28 37 56 46 36 73 59 82 81 Sweden 24 43 32 82 67 86 67 94 89 Switzerland 29 26 39 56 51 80 62 85 78 United Kingdom 16 34 19 53 69 76 75 86 85 WESTERN EUROPE 15 31 34 51 55 74 67 83 78 Czech Republic 10 27 46 52 42 49 64 89 83 Hungary 14 32 26 52 44 55 54 81 75 Poland 6 21 58 41 56 58 69 74 79 Romania 18 47 68 54 77 49 82 77 85 CENTRAL EUROPE 11 32 55 47 59 54 70 78 81 Russia (ungrouped) 12 27 31 58 57 28 51 70 78 Turkey (ungrouped) 30 54 47 63 71 76 91 87 92 USA (ungrouped) 17 32 41 39 72 80 79 84 86 TOTAL 16 32 38 49 62 67 70 81 82 * Level of trust in selected professions (Share of those choosing answers 3 or 4 out of scale from 1 to 4, where 1 means "distrust a lot", 2 means "distrust a little", 3 means "trust a little" and 4 means "trust a lot")
Source: GfK Ad Hoc Research Worldwide, August 2004
ots Original Text Service: GfK Gruppe
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