The Image of Politicians in Brazil

"The State is an agent that thwarts many injustices,except those the State itself commits".   Ibn Khalbun (1332-1406)

"Democracy" is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."  For democracy to function according to design, these elected representatives must be presumed to act according to the will of the people who elected them.  This important condition cannot be taken for granted, for there is ample evidence of abuse of power and privileges all over the world.  In some cases, the political system is designed with checks and balances by various branches (executive, legislative and judicial), but what if you can't trust anyone?

We will now present some data from the TGI Brasil study.  This is a survey of 10,624 persons between the ages of 12 to 64 years old who were intereviewed during 2001.  During the interview, the survey respondents were presented with the statement, "In Brazil, politicans are very concerned about the welfare of the people."  According to the TGI Brasil study, 

The following table provides the breakdown by various demographic groups:

Demographic group % 'completely agreed' % 'somewhat agreed' % neither agree/disagree % 'somewhat disagreed' % completely disagreed'

Region
     Brasilia (D.F.)
     Belo Horizonte
     Curitiba
     Fortaleza
     Porto Alegre
     Recife
     Rio de Janeiro
     Salvador
     São Paulo
     São Paulo (Interior)
     Sul/Sudeste (Interior)

  
  4%
  5%
  5%
  8%
  3%
  8%
  5%
  6%
  4%
  8%
  8%		  
6%
5%
5%
6%
6%
4%
6%
8%
4%
6%
6%		  
15%
11%
16%
15%
15%
18%
12%
21%
19%
18%
15%		  
13%
12%
14%
15%
19%
11%
15%
12%
13%
12%
13%		  
62%
67%
60%
56%
57%
59%
62%
53%
60%
56%
58%

Sex/Age
     Male 12-19
     Male 20-24
     Male 25-34
     Male 35-44
     Male 45-54
     Male 55-64

     Female 12-19
     Female 20-24
     Female 25-34
     Female 35-44
     Female 45-54
     Female 55-64

  
10%
  4%
  8%
  4%
  6%
  5%

  7%
  4%
  6%
  5%
  6%
  6%		  
  7%
  3%
  5%
  5%
  6%
  5%

  7%
  6%
  5%
  4%
  6%
  5%		  
18%
18%
14%
16%
15%
25%

16%
15%
13%
16%
14%
22%		  
13%
14%
13%
12%
10%
13%

18%
14%
13%
14%
11%
11%		  
52%
61%
60%
63%
63%
52%

52%
61%
62%
61%
63%
56%

Socio-Economic Level
     AB
     C
     DE

    
  4%
  5%
  9%		  
  4%
  4%
10%		  
13%
17%
18%		  
17%
13%
  9%		  
62%
61%
54%
Employment Status
     Full-time
     Part-time
     Unemployed		  
  5%
  6%
  7%		  
  5%
  5%
  6%
16%
13%
17%		  
13%
15%
13%		  
61%
61%
57%
Education
     Graduate degree
     University complete
     University incomplete
     Secondary complete
     Secondary incomplete
     Primary complete
     Primary incomplete
2%
3%
2%
3%
5%
7%
9%
6%
3%
4%
4%
5%
5%
8%
11%
11%
11%
15%
18%
17%
19%
20%
19%
16%
15%
16%
13%
  9%
61%
64%
67%
63%
56%
58%
55%
TOTAL 6% 6% 16% 13% 59%

Except for a slight tendency for higher trust from the least affluent and educated, the ratings for politicans were uniformly bad across demographics.  How can a democracy function when the people do not trust the elected representatives to care about them?

(posted by Roland Soong, 3/3/2002)

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