Concepts
Trust and attitudes to the civil society
In the previous issue we started presenting parts of the publication “Trust, responsibility for social issues and charity in Macedonia”, published by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation. The publication is, in fact, a report made on the basis of two questionnaires and the results of four focus-groups. The questionnaires and focus-groups have been carried out by the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Researches. The publication in PDF format is available on www.mcms.org.mk.
There are different definitions of civil society and the forms of associating, and in this case the wider understanding has been used, which besides the civil society organizations (citizens’ associations and foundations), often referred to as non-governmental organizations, involves churches and religious communities, trade unions and economic chambers.
Trust in the civil society
Citizens have most trust in churches and religious communities (68.4%) but there is division in the trust in civil society organizations. Most of the citizens do not trust trade unions and economic chambers.
Table 1. How much you trust:
No Yes
Churches and religious communities 68.4% 31.6%
Civil society organizations 50.3% 49.7%
Economic chambers 29.9% 70.0%
Trade unions 21.9% 78.1%
Most trust in civil society organizations is (understandably) noticed within the employed in the sector (77.8%), then ethnic Turks (70.9%), unlike Roma (33.3%), and the trust increases with the level of education. The other differences are smaller and bigger trust can be noticed within SDSM and DUI sympathizers (59%), unlike VMRO (DPMNE and NP) with about 45%.
Bigger trust in churches and religious communities is mostly expressed in the Pelagonija region (89%).
Attitudes towards civil society organizations
The majority of citizens (65.6%) think that civil society organizations are established in order to realize citizens’ interests. On the other hand, the majority of citizens (55.1%) think that civil society organizations serve foreign countries’ interests, with whose help they are organized and financed and the majority (76.7%) thinks they are the means for the skilled individuals to get money and influence. Differences by single parameters are insignificant.
Table 2. Attitudes towards civil society organizations
ATTITUDE 1
How much do you agree with the attitude that civil society organizations are organized by citizens in order to realize citizens’ interests?
I have no attitude 11.0%
I do not agree at all 10.2%
I partly disagree 13.2%
I partly agree 41.2%
I completely agree 24.4%
ATTITUDE 2
How much do you agree with the attitude that civil society organizations serve only to foreign countries’ interests and foundations that help them organize and finance?
I have no attitude 15.0%
I do not agree at all 11.0%
I partly disagree 18.9%
I partly agree 35.7%
I completely agree 19.4%
ATTITUDE 3
How much do you agree with the attitude that most of the civil society organizations are the means for skilled individuals to come to money and influence?
I have no attitude 9.7%
I do not agree at all 2.9%
I partly disagree 10.6%
I partly agree 32.4%
I completely agree 44.3%
There are inconsistencies in the answers, taking into consideration that attitude 1 is in relative contradiction with attitudes 2 and 3 and for all three there is majority consent.
Civil society organizations and parties
The majority of citizens (61.1%) think that many skilled people are not party organized and that the civil society organizations enable their opinion to get to the public. The employed in the public and civic sector (>70%) have bigger trust in this attitude, unlike those from the private (58%), as well as housewives and pensioners (<55%). There are differences within party division, there is bigger consent at citizens who consider DOM as their party (77%), above average are SDSM, DUI and NSDP (about 62%), unlike VMRO (DPMNE and NP), DPA (50%) and the least PDP (36%).
Unlike that, citizens think that politicians misuse (take for their own interests or hide behind them) civil society organizations (72.5%) or ignore them (25.6%).
Table 3. Political parties and their leaders:
No answer 1.9%
They hide behind certain civil society organizations 20.3%
They use them when they have party interests 52.2%
They do not take into account the civil society organizations’ attitudes 25.6%.
Most convinced in the second statement are the Roma (81%) and the employed in the civil society organizations themselves (72%), and on the first attitude, the biggest accordance is within the sympathizers of the so-called parties of ethnic Albanians (DUI, DPA and PDP), in spite of the fact that it is not reflected in similar accordance by the respondents who have declared themselves to be ethnic Albanians.
To the direct question of ideological/party coloring of certain civil society organizations, a small minority of citizens think that there is such relation (in all cases, except HCHR, it is below 10%).
Table 1. List organizations that you consider very ideological (party) colored:
ORGANIZATION %
1. Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia 10.5
2. Macedonian Journalists’ Association 8.5
3. Union of Macedonian Women Organizations 6.0
4. Open Society Institute of Macedonia Foundation 5.9
5. El Hilal 5.9
6. Transparency Macedonia 5.7
7. Union of Macedonian Pensioners’ Associations 4.3
8. Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) 2.9
9. Macedonian Red Cross 2.7
10. Institute for Sustainable Communities/Institutional Development Center 1.4
11. First Children’s Embassy “Medjashi” 1.3
12. Polio plus 0.4
Conclusions
Civil society organizations are non-party, but misused by parties.
The majority of citizens think that there a lot of capable people are not party organized, that the civil society organizations enable their opinion to get to the public. The citizens’ perception for party devotion of certain civil society organizations is minority (<10%).
However, the citizens have also stated that civil society organizations are either ignored by the political parties or misused by them and their leaders.
Division in trust in civil society organizations
Citizens have divided trust in civil society organizations (50.3% do trust, and 49.7% do not trust). Trust grows with the level of education. Trust in churches and religious communities is bigger, rather than trust in trade unions and economic chambers.
Citizens, foreign countries and foundations or skilled individuals?
In all three attitudes the citizens have expressed majority consent, which is relatively contradictory and the division of answers by various parameters is consistent (with small, insignificant exceptions). It means that none of these attitudes can be pointed out as dominant in the citizens’ perception.
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