Purpose A comparative series of national public attitude surveys in Africa on Democracy, Markets and Civil Society Social scientific project dedicated to accurate and precise measurement of nationally representative samples of publics Insert our results into the hands of national, regional and continental elected representatives, government officials, civil society leaders and donors through direct presentations or through the news media, or other publications Ultimately, advancing democracy in Africa by promoting the voice of public opinion
Who, Where and When? Over the past ten years, Afrobarometer has: Interviewed over 15, Africans over the past ten years In 2 reforming Sub-Saharan African countries (generally, multi party regimes that have had a founding democratic election, or a re-democratizing election) Round 4 - Interviews with 13, 876 women Round 4 45% of interviewers were women
Who, Where and When? Round 1 (12 countries, mid-1999 to mid 21) in West Africa: Ghana, Mali, Nigeria in East Africa: Uganda and Tanzania in Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe Round 2 (16 countries, mid 22-late 23) Zimbabwe early 24 Adds Cape Verde, Kenya, Mozambique, and Senegal Round 3 (18 countries, 25) Adds Madagascar and Benin Round 4 (2 countries, 28) Zimbabwe later 29 Adds Burkina Faso and Liberia Plus additional surveys in Namibia (21), South Africa (24), Nigeria (21, 27)
Afrobarometer Network 3 Core Partners Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy (IREEP) 2 National Partners (NGO, public, private) Other Individual and Institutional Research Associates Support Units Michigan State University University of Cape Town Regular Workshops To discuss policies and protocols and appoint committees to produce concentrated pieces of work like draft questionnaires or revisions of survey methodologies Summer School / Capacity Building To build Network skills in scientific analysis, including social statistics, report writing and relevant literature
Who Supports It? Round 4 Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (RDMFA / DANIDA) Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) UK Department for International Development (DFID)
Methodology Random sample of 12 citizens (18 or older) 24 in South Africa and Nigeria Sample proportionate to population Stratified by urban/rural and regional strata as per latest Census projection Weighting process used to ensure that sample is proportionate to population Multi Stage random sampling Nationally representative sample Sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points at 95% CI Personal, face-to-face interviews Questionnaires translated into local languages 5/5 gender quota
Interview Context Female Sample 28 13,876 interviews with women 62% of interviews conducted with no one being present 6%, spouse present 17%, children present Over 9% of women did not confer with others and were not influenced 99% did not feel threatened 63% had no difficulty with questions 75% were regarded as interested and honest 81% were cooperative
Selected Indicators Perceptions of women Living Standards Government performance on service delivery Trust and corruption Freedom Democracy Self-reported behaviour Leadership roles (household and community) Participation (local level) Education Employment Media and telecommunications usage
Advantages and Disadvantages for Advantages Views of ordinary women Gender comparisons Time comparisons Country comparisons Test relationships among variables Gender Analysis Disadvantages Few individual level indicators for access to basic services Measure perceptions Subjective indicators rather than objective assessments of living conditions or access to services Proxy measures Does not measure perceptions and behavior of female politicians Does not measure gender based violence Question changes Occasional scale changes Not representative of the continent
Education Among Women 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 % 3 14 17 13 11 9 8 11 Secondary Compled Post secondary Secondary 1999 24 26 28 What is the highest level of education you have completed? Men tend to have more education than women
Employment Among Women % 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 21 18 16 1 11 13 Employment -FT Employment - PT Employed What is the highest level of education you have completed? 1999 24 26 28 Cannot determine if employment is formal or informal
Media Usage Among Women 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 % 85 77 75 72 37 4 41 31 27 21 23 21 1999 24 26 28 Radio Television News 28 - Considerably more rural women state that they never listen to the radio (21%), watch TV (65%) or read a newspaper (77%) How often do you get news from the following sources? Percent answering everyday or a few times per week
% 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Interest in Public Affairs and 54 Politics Among Women 77 14 13 64 57 17 16 1999 24 26 28 Interst in public affairs Discuss poltics often 28 - No urban/rural differences Urban women more likely to know name of finance minister (31%) Rural women more likely to know name of MP (43%) How interested would you say you are in public affairs? (percent very/somewhat interested) How often do you discuss politics? (percent frequently)
1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 % Leadership Roles Among Women 32 34 32 6 2 1 2 5 3 24 26 28 Household head Religious leader Leader-voluntary organisation Now I am going to read out a list of groups that people can join or attend. For each one could you tell me whether you are an official leader, an active member, an inactive member or not a member?
Participation Among Women % 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 36 73 69 68 44 43 4 26 29 26 3 5 5 5 6 64 1999 24 26 28 Attend community meeting Join protest Raise an issue with others Voted in last election 28 - Rural women report greater participation (except in protest) and are slightly more likely to say that they vote. Here is a list of actions that people sometimes take as citizens. For each of these, please tell me whether you, personally, have done any of these things during the past year. (percent often or several times)
4 % Participation Among Women Cont. 3 2 1 16 13 6 6 4 4 5 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 11 1999 24 26 28 Contact councillor Contact official Contact religious leader Contact MP Contact traditional leader 28 - Rural women are more likely to contact a councillor, religious leader or traditional leader During the past year, how often have you contacted any of the following persons about some important problem or to give them your views. (percent often)
4 % Reported Payment of Bribes Among Women 3 2 1 1 11 9 9 1 9 9 7 7 24 26 28 Permit/document Household services Problem with police 28 bribes more common in urban areas In the past year how often if ever have you had to pay a bribe or give a gift or do a favour for Government officials in order to get/avoid:
% 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Perceived Freedom Among 52 Say what you think Women 62 Join any political orgnisation 66 Choose who to vote for without pressure 28 No urban/rural differences In this country how free are you to: say what you want, join any political organisation that you want, choose who to vote for without feeling pressured? (percent completely free)
Broad Trends Men and women do not differ with regard to their attitudes to democracy and government performance. Women are a little less likely to believe that state organs and actors are corrupt. Behaviour differs by gender Women have lower participation than men. Government performance is related to support for democracy. Trust and democracy are related. Trust and government performance are related. Interest in public affairs and politics is associated with trust, democracy and government performance. Participation is related to trust, democracy and government performance.
Thank you