The Brazil Public Opinion Monitor (BPOM) is a longitudinal panel of 2,672 opinion leaders from across Brazil that aims to provide an on-going monitor of opinions and perspectives on the economic and social development of Brazil, and on Brazil’s place in the wider world. A particular sub-theme is Brazil’s relations with other emerging and developing economies in South America and globally.

These results, and those of the surveys through the remainder of 2013, aim to provide a baseline of opinions and perspectives on the economic and social development of Brazil, and on Brazil’s place in the wider world. The current survey was undertaken over the period August to September 2013. Of the 2,672 members of the panel, 2,189 returned the fully-completed questionnaire.DFI

Henson, Spencer

English

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IDSEVIDENCE REPORTNo 32
Policy Anticipation, Response and Evaluation
Brazil Public Opinion Monitor: Baseline Survey 
Results
Spencer Henson
October 2013
BRAZIL PUBLIC OPINION MONITOR: BASELINE SURVEY 
RESULTS
Spencer Henson
October 2013
This is an Open Access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted 
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are clearly credited.
First published by the Institute of Development Studies in October 2013
© Institute of Development Studies 2013
IDS is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England (No. 877338).
The IDS programme on Strengthening Evidence-based Policy works across seven key themes. Each theme 
works with partner institutions to co-construct policy-relevant knowledge and engage in policy-influencing 
processes. This material has been developed under the Policy Anticipation, Response and Evaluation theme.
The development of this material has been led by IDS who holds the copyright.  
The material has been funded by UK aid from the UK Government, however the views expressed do not  
necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.
AG Level 2 Output ID: 275
1 
 
Contents 
1 Scope and aims of the Brazil Public Opinion Monitor 2 
 
2 Broad sentiment on life in Brazil today and into the future 3 
 
3 Major challenges facing Brazil today 5 
 
4 Brazil and the wider world 7 
 
5 Brazil and aid 9 
 
Further information 11 
 
 
Figures 
Figure 1 Overall, how satisfied are you with life in Brazil today? 3 
Figure 2 Over the next five to ten years, how do you see life changing for 
people like you in Brazil? 4 
Figure 3 Over the next five to ten years, how do you see life changing for 
poor people in Brazil? 4 
Figure 4 What do you see as the number one challenge facing Brazil 
today? 5 
Figure 5 Overall, how concerned are you about the following issues in 
Brazil today? 6 
Figure 6 Overall, how do you think the rest of the world sees Brazil? 7 
Figure 7 How much political influence do you think Brazil has in the world 
today? 7 
Figure 8 How much political influence do you think Brazil has in South 
America today? 8 
Figure 9 How important should each of the following factors be in 
determining the financial and other assistance provided by 
Brazil to other developing countries? 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
 
1 Scope and aims of the Brazil Public 
Opinion Monitor 
The Brazil Public Opinion Monitor (BPOM) is a longitudinal panel of 2,672 opinion 
leaders from across Brazil that aims to provide an on-going monitor of opinions and 
perspectives on the economic and social development of Brazil, and on Brazil’s place 
in the wider world. A particular sub-theme is Brazil’s relations with other emerging 
and developing economies in South America and globally. 
 
Reflecting the logistical difficulties and costs associated with surveys involving a 
representative sample of the Brazilian population, the BPOM specifically focuses on 
opinion leaders. Here, opinion leaders are defined as individuals who are engaged 
actively in economic and/or political issues in Brazil and are willing to participate in an 
on-going panel which means that they will be asked to respond to questions on an 
on-going basis. A further rationale for the focus on opinion leaders is that they both 
provide an effective ‘pulse’ on opinions on economic and social issues in Brazil, and 
are also key drivers of these opinions. 
 
The BPOM is an internet-based survey platform through which members are 
presented with short questionnaires every two months. Members are sent an email 
inviting them to participate in each survey which contains a link to the survey. After a 
period of seven days, members who have not responded are sent a reminder. 
 
The current survey was undertaken over the period August to September 2013. Of 
the 2,672 members of the panel, 2,189 returned the fully-completed questionnaire. A 
summary of the results is provided below. 
 
These results, and those of the surveys through the remainder of 2013, aim to 
provide a baseline of opinions and perspectives on the economic and social 
development of Brazil, and on Brazil’s place in the wider world. Surveys in future 
months and years will enable changes in opinions relative to this baseline to be 
tracked. More importantly, the longitudinal nature of the panel makes it possible to 
identify who has changed their opinions and to pinpoint the key factors driving such 
changes. 
3 
 
2 Broad sentiment on life in Brazil today 
and into the future 
To assess the broad sentiment of panel members they were asked how satisfied they 
were with life in Brazil today. The results suggest a profound split in views, with 43 
per cent indicating that they were satisfied with life in Brazil, and 41 per cent that they 
were dissatisfied (Figure 1). The fact that 19 per cent were ‘very dissatisfied’ with life 
in Brazil whilst only nine per cent were ‘very satisfied’, however, suggests panel 
members as a whole were marginally skewed towards being dissatisfied. 
 
Figure 1 Overall, how satisfied are you with life in Brazil today? 
 
 
Looking to the future, however, the results suggest a strong feeling of optimism 
amongst opinion leaders in Brazil. Thus, 45 per cent were of the view that life for 
people like themselves would get better over the next five to ten years, with a further 
11 per cent believing life would get ‘much better’ (Figure 2). Conversely, only 14 per 
cent thought that life for people like themselves would get worse. 
 
Panel members were also somewhat optimistic about the life of poor people in Brazil, 
with 47 per cent of the view that their life would get better over the next five to ten 
years (Figure 3). Only 17 per cent were of the view that the life of poor people would 
get worse over the next five to ten years, whilst 29 per cent thought their life would 
not appreciably change. 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Very
satisfied
Somewhat
satisfied
Neither
satisfied not
dissatisfied
Somewhat
dissatisfied
Very
dissatisfied
Don't know
%
4 
 
Figure 2 Over the next five to ten years, how do you see life 
changing for people like you in Brazil? 
 
 
Figure 3 Over the next five to ten years, how do you see life 
changing for poor people in Brazil? 
  
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Get much
better
Get better Little or no
change
Get worse Get much
worse
Don't know
%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Get much
better
Get better Little or no
change
Get worse Get much
worse
Don't know
%
5 
 
3 Major challenges facing Brazil today 
Panel members were asked to identify the number one issue or challenge facing 
Brazil today.  By not providing any prompts, the aim was to identify the ‘top of mind’ 
issues of opinion leaders, which can be taken as their most prominent concerns. By 
far, the issues mentioned most frequently were crime and corruption, being 
mentioned by 74 per cent and 64 per cent of respondents, respectively. Other 
prominent concerns related to inequality (mentioned by 46 per cent) and poverty 
(mentioned by 33 per cent). 
 
Figure 4 What do you see as the number one challenge facing 
Brazil today? 
 
 
To provide a broader assessment of the challenges facing Brazil today, some of 
which might not come immediately to mind, respondents were presented with a list of 
issues and asked to indicate how concerned they were about each issue. Mirroring 
the results in Figure 4, the level of crime and the level of corruption were of greatest 
concern to members of the panel (Figure 5), with 93 per cent and 92 per cent 
indicating they were ‘very concerned’ respectively. Transparency of government and 
the gap between the rich and the poor also had very high levels of concern. Of least 
concern was the position of women and the state of the economy. 
  
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
C
rim
e
C
o
rru
p
tio
n
In
eq
u
ality
P
o
verty
%
6 
 
Figure 5 Overall, how concerned are you about the following 
issues in Brazil today? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
State o
f th
e eco
n
o
m
y
Tran
sp
aren
cy o
f go
vern
m
en
t
Q
u
ality o
f d
em
o
cracy
P
ro
tectio
n
 o
f th
e en
viro
n
m
en
t
N
u
m
b
er o
f p
eo
p
le in
 p
o
verty
Level o
f co
rru
p
tio
n
G
ap
 b
etw
een
 th
e rich
 an
d
 th
e p
o
o
r
H
u
m
an
 righ
ts
P
o
sitio
n
 o
f w
o
m
en
Level o
f crim
e
Very concerned Somewhat concerned
Neither concerned nor unconcerned Somewhat unconcerned
Very unconcerned
7 
 
4 Brazil and the wider world 
The baseline survey aimed to get an initial indication of how opinion leaders 
considered Brazil was seen globally. Whilst 43 per cent were of the view that Brazil 
was seen positively by the rest of the world, 35 per cent were of the diametrically 
opposed view and considered Brazil to be viewed negatively (Figure 6). It is 
noteworthy, however, that relatively few respondents provided extreme responses; 
thus, only six per cent indicated that Brazil was viewed ‘very positively’ by the rest of 
the world and only nine per cent that it was viewed ‘very negatively’. 
 
Figure 6 Overall, how do you think the rest of the world sees 
Brazil? 
 
 
Figure 7 How much political influence do you think Brazil has in 
the world today? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Very
positively
Somewhat
positively
Neither
positively
nor
negatively
Somewhat
negatively
Very
negatively
Don't
know
%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Very great Somewhat
great
Neither
little nor
great
Somewhat
little
Very little Don't
know
%
8 
 
When it came to Brazil’s political influence in the world, 41 per cent of opinion leaders 
on the panel were of the view that Brazil had a great influence (Figure 7). Only 28 per 
cent considered Brazil to have little influence in the world. Brazil was thought to have 
far greater influence within South America, with 35 per cent considering its influence 
to be ‘somewhat great’ and 33 per cent of the view that it was ‘very great’. When 
asked whether Brazil had the capacity to take on more political influence in the world, 
only 36 per cent responded positively whilst 57 per cent were of the view that it 
lacked the capacity. 
 
Figure 8 How much political influence do you think Brazil has in 
South America today? 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Very great Somewhat
great
Neither
little nor
great
Somewhat
little
Very little Don't know
%
9 
 
5 Brazil and aid 
Finally, panel members were asked about financial and other forms of aid, both 
received by Brazil from other countries and that provided by Brazil to other 
developing countries. 
 
Of respondents to the survey, 37 per cent believed that Brazil receives financial and 
other forms of assistance from other countries, whilst 56 per cent were of the view 
that Brazil did not receive aid. Of those believing that Brazil does receive aid, 43 per 
cent indicated that aid was provided by the EU and 32 per cent by the US. A 
significant minority of respondents were also of the view that aid was provided by the 
UK (13 per cent) and Japan (9 per cent). 
 
Interestingly, 63 per cent of respondents were of the view that Brazil should receive 
financial and other forms of assistance, with only 30 per cent not considering aid 
appropriate.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 
 
Figure 9 How important should each of the following factors be in 
determining the financial and other assistance provided 
by Brazil to other developing countries? 
 
 
 
 
 
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
P
ro
m
o
tin
g h
u
m
an
 righ
ts
R
e
d
u
cin
g p
o
verty
In
cre
asin
g B
razil's p
o
litical in
flu
e
n
ce in
 th
e w
o
rld
P
ro
m
o
tin
g B
razil's e
co
n
o
m
ic in
terests
P
ro
m
o
tin
g b
e
tte
r go
vern
m
e
n
t in
 o
th
e
r co
u
n
trie
s
P
ro
m
o
tin
g p
e
ace an
d
 se
cu
rity acro
ss th
e w
o
rld
P
ro
m
o
tin
g B
razil's o
w
n
 n
atio
n
al secu
rity
P
ro
m
o
tin
g th
e p
o
sitio
n
 o
f w
o
m
en
 in
 o
th
e
r co
u
n
tries
R
e
sp
o
n
d
in
g to
 n
atu
ral d
isasters
P
ro
m
o
tin
g so
lid
arity am
o
n
gst d
e
ve
lo
p
in
g n
atio
n
s
Very important Somewhat important
Neither important nor unimportant Somewhat unimportant
Very unimportant
11 
 
Turning to the role of Brazil as a provider of financial and other forms of assistance to 
other developing countries, 61 per cent were of the view that Brazil provides such 
aid, with only 13 per cent considering this not to be the case. It is noteworthy, 
however, that 26 per cent of panel members did not know. 
 
Views were split, however, on whether Brazil should provide financial and other 
forms of assistance to other developing countries, with 51 per cent for and 40 per 
cent against. When asked which factors should drive the financial and other forms of 
assistance Brazil might provide to other developing countries, those considered most 
important was the promotion of Brazil’s own national security and promoting peace 
and security in the world (Figure 9). Panel members were also of the view that 
promoting solidarity amongst developing nations and responding to national disasters 
to be important factors driving aid provided by Brazil to other developing countries. 
 
Further information 
If you would like any further information about the BPOM and/or additional results, 
please do not hesitate to contact Spencer Henson (s.henson@ids.ac.uk). In addition, 
information about the BPOM and similar panels in India and South Africa is available 
at www.ids.ac.uk/ipom.  
Brighton BN1 9RE 
T +44 (0)1273 606261 
F +44 (0)1273 621202 
E ids@ids.ac.uk
www.ids.ac.uk
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