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Policy 
Documentation 
Center Feature Article
Barometer 2006: Internal policy and the electorate in 
Georgia
Institute for Policy Studies1
This representative survey of the population of Georgia was carried out in June 15-28, 2006 in all nine regions 
of the country, Ajara and the capital Tbilisi. 1171 persons were surveyed (53.6% females and 46.4%) males, 
91.9% of which were ethnic Georgians, 3.8% Azeri, 2.4% Armenian and 1.9% of other ethnicity. Among the 
surveyed 35.8% are 17-34 years old, 44.5% 35-54 years old and 19.7% are 55 and more.  Below are pre-
sented a selection of the results that concern internal policy.
In terms of voting preferences, the biggest share of respondents  (31.0%) could not give deﬁnite answer to
question as which party they would vote for in case of Parliamentary elections. Among the different parties, 
the National Movement has the largest number of supporters (29.4%).
Graph 1: Support of the parties
  
For analysis of the data we grouped respondents according to party support in the following way:
1.Supporters of National Movement  29.4%
2.Supporters of all opposition parties  39.6%
3.Undecided     31.0%
1 The survey was supported by Open Society Institute. The Institute for Policy Studies is a Non-Government Organization focused on the study of social policy. Information on the 
activities of the institute are on www.ips.ge
0,0% 5,0% 10,0% 15,0% 20,0% 25,0% 30,0% 35,0%
Other
Justice party
Freedom party
Party of industry workers
Georgia's way
Leibor party
New Rights
Republican party
Conservative party
National Movement
Difficult to say
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The distribution of supporters across the age is presented in Graph 2
The supporters of the National Movement and the opposition parties do not differ by gender.  On   average, 
their supporters are 48.0% men and 52.0% women. Among the undecided group, women prevail ( 57.0%). 
Ethnic Georgians comprise 90.4% of the supporters of the National Movement, 96.1% of opposition support-
ers and 88.1% of Undecided.  Supporters of the National Movement are better well-off than the other two 
groups - 72.5% of them estimate their own household as being of moderate afﬂuence, while such household
estimates give 64.0% of Opposition supporters and 63.8% of Undecided. Economic well-being is mostly de-
termined by the number of employed household members and the income from own business.  The difference 
between the supporters of the parties and the Undecided is statistically signiﬁcant on a majority of issues,
which is why in many instances, in addition to the actual results, we offer analysis for the answers given by 
these three groups.
Democratic principles and readiness to vote
The majority (51.7%) thinks that there is no democracy in Georgia.  This belief is held by 31.8% of National 
Movement supporters, 67.2% of supporters of opposition parties and 51.2% of the Undecided group.  A clear 
majority (70.9%) believe that one of the main indicators of democratic rule -Equality before the law, is not 
respected in Georgia. A large portion of respondents (63.8%) believe that public participation is a necessary 
condition for the solution of problems the country faces, but according to 77.0% of those asked, ordinary citi-
zen are unable to have any inﬂuence  over the actions of government. Correspondingly, many (64.7%) think
that people in power disregard public opinion and a majority of the population cannot see ways to inﬂuence the
government. Participation in Non-Government Organizations (26.8%), appealing to local authorities (20.8%) 
and strike (19.2%) are seen as the most effective ways of inﬂuencing government.
A majority of those surveyed (62.9%) plan to take part in local elections. This is the case for 79.8% of National 
Movement supporters, 60.9% of supporters of opposition parties and  49.4% of Undecided.  Only 28.2% of 
the population believes that the elections will be fair, although expectation of fair elections is much greater 
among National Movement supporters (54.3%), than either of the Opposition parties supporters (17.7%) or 
the Undecided (17.6%). 
Estimations of the activities of government, problems of the country and possible threats
Repairing the roads (82.0%), army building (80.3%), power supply (75.4%) are considered as the most ef-
fective actions of the government, while as the most ineffective are considered overcoming  poverty (63.5%), 
improvement of economic condition in the country (50.3%) and support of small business  (44.1%).
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
17-34 35-54 55 and
more
National Movement supp.
Opposition supp.
Undecided
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Graph 3: Successful government activities
The identiﬁcation of the main problems facing the country is connected with the failures of governing. Poverty
(81.6%), relations with Russia (68.2%), Abkhhazian and Ossetian conﬂicts (60.1%) and the decrease in the
population (37.3%) are estimated as the main problems. All three groups of respondents prioritize these ﬁve
problems, although they rank their importance differently, for example, poverty is named as the number one 
problem by all, whereas National Movement supporters name conﬂicts as second in importance as opposed to
the supporters of the Opposition parties and the Undecided group who place relations with Russia in second 
place.
Poverty is conceived not only as the most acute problem, and the struggle against it the government’s biggest 
failure, but also as the largest future threat. The majority (73.7%) expects poverty to increase in the next 
5 years. A large portion (69.5%) fears the wider spread of such diseases as AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer. 
There is also a signiﬁcant fear of loosing many of Georgia’s traditions (62.8%).  On the whole, the supporters
of the opposition parties are more concerned with these threats than supporters of National Movement or the 
Undecided. 
Increasing salaries and pensions (74.6%), improving  Georgian-Russian relations (55.3%), and changing the 
government (33.4%) are seen as the most effective ways for improving the situation in Georgia. The groups of 
supporters do not differ in pointing the ﬁrst two means for improving situation, the difference is in what they
consider for third place. For National Movement supporters it is the demand of withdrawal of Russian peace-
keepers, for Opposition supporters and Undecided it is the change in government. 
Among recent activities of the government, the organization of youth camps (69.3%), the introduction of a 
new system of social security which provides assistance to the poorest (59.0%) and the reform of universities 
and research institutes (33.6%)  are considered as the most successful. As the most unsuccessful are named 
investigation and court proceedings of Girgvliani  case (64.2%), dealing with prison unrest (61.0%) and  the 
issue of leasing forests for 50 years (58.2%)
  
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Repairing roads
Army building
pow er supply
Closure of Russian military
bases
Improvement of attitude
tow ards Georgia
Stabilization
Education reform
Improvement of the sys tem
of social assistance
Fight w ith criminality
Freedom of press
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Unemployment (82.4%), drug addiction (41.8%), availability of quality education (40.6%), condition of roads 
(36.0%) and emigration (34.1%) are seen by the population as the most acute local problems.
Values
17 respondents were requested to choose from a list which spheres or domains were the most important for 
the country. The majority chose the following: Defense of Human Rights (72.9%), social security (72.3%), 
Health care (67.5%), support of business (50.7%) and education (47.1%).
Graph 4: Important spheres
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
Human Rights Social security Health care Business
support
Education
Nat.Mov.sup
Opposition sup.
Undecided
Trust and optimism
Trust in state institutions is rather low, no state institution can claim the trust from at least half of the 
population. The biggest share trusts the President (47.3%0, whilst the smallest has trust in the government 
(17.8%).
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00% 50.00%
Government
Courts
Parliament
Sakrebulo
Gamgeoba
Police
Ombudsman
President
The deﬁciency of trust in state institutions is reﬂected in the naming of persons or institutions who respond-
ents would consider approaching in case of the violation of their rights. The majority of respondents (60.0%) 
choose kin and friends, followed by the Ombudsman (35.8%) and then NGOs (30.1%).
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Graph 6: Trust in persons and institutions
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Government institutions
Parliament
Criminal authorities
International org.
Courts
Media
President
Police
Local authorities
NGOs
Ombudsman
Kin and friends
The majority of those surveyed (55.1%) did not believe that it is possible to lead a decent life by honest work 
in Georgia.   This view is held by 53.3% of National Movement supporters, 63.4% of Opposition supporters 
and 55.6% of the Undecided group.  Almost one half of the population (49.3%) believe that they have not 
found their own place in life.  Not only do people mistrust state institutions and doubt the possibility of leading 
a decent life by honest work in Georgia, but more than one half of those surveyed also (55.5%) believes that 
the majority of people cannot be trusted.
One third of the population (39.7%) believes that the country is on the right path to development, 31.5% 
does not think so, and 29.2% cannot make deﬁnite estimation.   This view is shared by many more (66.3%)
supporters of the National Movement, than either the Opposition party supporters (29.0%), or the Undecided 
group (28.6%).
Notwithstanding all the above, a majority (56.5%) is convinced, that what one achieves in life depends more 
on herself or himself than on others and situation. Optimism is a dominant attitude, as 88.5% looks at future 
with hope and 55.4% expects that most of the things in their life will happen as they wish.
Estimations of politicians
The respondents estimated politicians from a presented list. They were requested to choose one answer op-
tion from provided four options: like, dislike, difﬁcult to say, does not know. The list consisted of 28 politicians
from whom 13 represent opposition parties. The most favorably estimated are the Minister of Defense Irakli 
Okruashvili (62.0%), President Mikhail Saakashvili (59.0%) and the Speaker of Parliament, Nino Burjanadze 
(57.0%).
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Graph 7: Top Ten regarded politicians
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Zviad Dzidziguri
Gigi Ugulava
Salome Zurabishvili
Gogi Topadze
Tina Khidasheli
Koba Davitashvili
Nino Burjanadze
Mikhail Saakashvili
Irakli Okruashvili
It is not at all surprising that the ranking of politicians by three groups of party supporters differs. On the 
whole National Movement supporters are positive about Saakashvili, Okruashvili, Burjanadze, Ugulava, Davi-
tashvili, Levan Berdzenishvili, Topadze, Lomaia, Khidasheli and Salome Zurabishvili. The preference list of 
the Supporters of opposition is as follows: Davitashvili, Levan Berdzenishvili, Khidasheli,Okruashvili, Salome 
Zurabishvili, Dzidziguri, Topadze, Chikradze, Natelashvili and Usupashvili. The Undecided group have the high-
est regard for Saakashvili, Okruashvili, Levan Berdzenishvili, Burjanadze, Davitashvili, Khidasheli, Topadze, 
Salome Zurabishvili, Dzidziguri and Ugulava.
National Movement supporters are much more lavish than others in expressing their preferences especially 
the Undecided, who are the most critical.  It is interesting to note that representatives of the opposition can 
be found among all three groups of supporters  - in the group of National Movement supporters there are 5 
opposition politicians, among supporters of opposition parties 9, and in the group of Undecided 7.
The list of least liked politicians is headed by Giga Bokeria (disliked by 70.6%), Igor Giorgadze (66.5%) and 
Kakha Bendukidze (64.8%). 
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Graph 8: Least liked politicians
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%
Giorgi Arveladze
Shalva Natelashvili
Zurab Nogaideli
David Kirkitadze
Givi Targamadze
Maia Nadiradze
Vano Merabishvili
Kakha Bendukidze
Igor Giorgadze
Giga Bokeria
National Movement supporters dislike the following politicians the most: Giorgadze, Natelashvili, Bokeria, 
Bendukidze, Gamkrelidze, Chikradze, Gamsakhurdia, Kirkitadze, Nadiradze and Merabishvili. Supporters of the 
opposition dislike: Bokeria, Bendukidze, Merabishvili, Targamadze, nadiradze, Giorgadze, Nogaideli, Kirkitadze, 
Arveladze and Lomaia. For the Undecided the least liked are: Bokeria,Giorgadze, Bendukidze, Nadiradze, 
Targamadze, Kirkitadze, Nogaideli, Natelashvili, Arveladze and Lomaia. In this case too, party support does 
not unequivocally determine preferences. In the list of 10 the most disliked politicians of National Movement 
supporters 5, in the list of the supporters of opposition 9,  in the list of Undecided 8  are members of National 
Movement.
Media 
Television undoubtedly remains the primary source for information. 85.7% get their information from televi-
sion, 16.8% from printed media and only 2.6% from radio. Channel  “Imedi” information  programs have the 
biggest audience being watched by 87.0% of population. They are trusted also by the largest number - 80.7%. 
News and information programs from Rustavi 2 are watched by a slightly smaller number (76.9%), but are 
trusted much less number (59.9%). Public Television is watched by 32.5% and is trusted by 21.9%, news and 
information programs of different Russian channels are watched by 22.5% and are trusted by 19.8%, Mze is 
watched by 19.2% and trusted by 9.4%.  The news and information programs of Public Television and Rustavi 
2 are more trusted by the supporters of National Movement than members of other two groups. Public Televi-
sion is trusted by 35.2% of National Movement supporters, 15.3% of supporters of Opposition parties and 
18.2% of Undecided. Rustavi 2 is trusted by 75.3% of National Movement supporters, 53.0% of supporters of 
opposition parties and 53.8% of Undecided.
Besides news and information programs “Imedi” is also top in most regarded and watched political programs. 
At the top of the list are two programs of the channel –“Reactia”( Reaction)  liked by 71.1% and “Pirvelebi” 
(The Firsts), liked by  64.5%. Among the journals the most popular is “Sarke” with 3.5% of respondents re-
ported reading it in the week preceding the survey.  Among the weeklies  “Kviris Palitra” (28.1%) enjoys most 
popularity whilst “Akhali Taoba” (6.2%) enjoys most popularity amongst the dailies.
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Graph 9: Printed media
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00%
24 Saati
Alia
Rezonansi
Akhali Taoba
Sitkva da Sakme
Kronika
Asaval-Dasavali
Gza
Tbiliseli
Kviris Palitra
Sarke
The Institute for Policy Studies hopes that the above provided information will be of assistance to the parties 
in their forthcoming election campaign and those wishing to know more about the contemporary situation in 
Georgia.


Barometer 2006: internal policy and the electorate in Georgia

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