The Arab Maghreb Public’s Attitudes toward Democracy

• In Event: Political Knowledge, Civic Competence, and Democracy

Abstract

The 2022 Arab Opinion Index represents the eighth iteration of a comprehensive series of public opinion surveys carried out throughout the Arab world by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar. Collaborating with researchers and academic institutions in each surveyed country, the study is designed to discern trends in Arab public sentiment regarding a diverse array of economic, social, and political matters. These include democracy, citizenship values, equality, justice, religion, and civic and political participation. So How do Arab citizens see the levels of democracy in their countries and what is their position on democracy?
This paper focuses on a set of indicators with the objective of discerning prevailing public opinion trends in the Maghreb countries concerning democracy. This involves understanding the citizens' conception of democracy, gauging the level of acceptance of the democratic political system, and evaluating public opinions regarding the degree of democracy in their respective nations.
The 2022 Arab Opinion Index is based on findings from face-to-face interviews conducted between June and December 2022 with 33,300 individual respondents in 14 Arab countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia.
Sampling followed a randomized, stratified, multi-stage, self-weighted clustered approach, giving an overall margin of error between +/- 2 % and 3% for the individual country samples. Fieldwork was carried out by an overall team of 920 individuals, equally balanced by gender, who conducted 72,000 hours of face-to-face interviews. The team covered a total of 890,000 kilometers (approximately 553,000 miles) across the population clusters sampled.
The findings indicate a rise in the percentage of individuals defining democracy as active participation and the establishment of democratic governance. Specifically, 34% of Arab region citizens perceive democracy as a safeguard for political and civil freedoms. Additionally, 20% express the view that democracy ensures equality and justice among citizens, while 14% emphasize participation and the institutional aspects of a democratic system, including the circulation of power and the separation and control between authorities. Furthermore, 6% characterize democracy as a guarantee of security and stability, and 5% associate it with improving economic conditions. Despite this consensus in favor of democracy, there is a prevailing negative assessment of the existing democratic state in the Arab World. Respondents, on average, rated the level of democracy in the region at 5.3 out of 10.

key words: public opinion, democracy, arab maghreb

Author

• Nabil Aouad, Cadi Ayyad University