1

2

FOREWARD

The present report outlines the findings of a survey on youth perceptions of

Participatory Democracy, conducted in Tunisia by I WATCH Organization.

This study is financed by PONTIS Foundation and SlovakAid.

.

A study conducted by: Dhia Elhak Ammar

I WATCH Member

Statistical Engineer, ‘High School of Statistics and Data Analysis Graduate

ammar.dhia@gmail.com

In case of any discrepancy between the three versions (FR, EN and AR) of this report, the

French version shall prevail.

Raw and detailed data may be obtained from the organization upon request.

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INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 4

1. Youth awareness of participatory democracy ................................................................................ 5

2. Youth understanding of the participatory democracy ................................................................... 7

3. Personal experiences ....................................................................................................................... 9

4. Youth opinions and views .............................................................................................................. 13

5. Level of youth commitment to promoting participatory democracy: .......................................... 18

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 20

Annex ..................................................................................................................................................... 21

Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 21

4

INTRODUCTION

The revolution sparked off to enable the youth to fully exercise their natural right to

participate in public life by enjoying the freedom of assembly, opinion and association,

among other basic rights. The youth has used these rights to contribute in the country’s

decision making process.

This contribution was particularly reflected during the constitution drafting period. Civil

society components, such as organizations and political parties, exerted pressure on the

National Constituent Assembly to modify or adopt certain articles. Despite several notable

successes following the investment of great efforts, the success potential is still limited.

These experiences have further confirmed that Representative Democracy has many

deficiencies as well, and might eventually not represent the citizens on some occasions. Such

a shortcoming is likely to be the result of alienating citizens from contributing in the decision

making process during the period between elections. Moreover, abstentions from voting and

election regulations might limit the representativeness of the elected institutions.

Consequently, there is a rising demand to further involve citizens and civil society in the

decision making process and to enhance citizens’ participation on the local level as well as on

the grassroots level. This can only be implied through consulting individuals regarding their

own matters.

The aim of this survey is to collect data about youth perceptions of the concept of

Participatory Democracy and its foundations. It also aims to explore their personal

experiences in terms of Participatory Democracy and the extent of their willingness to

participate in that process or in demanding its full application on the ground.

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1. Youth awareness of participatory democracy

The first part of the conducted survey mainly focused on the prominence of the participatory

democracy in the eyes of the youth and their interest for politics.

The growing distrust in politics should not be interpreted as a complete indifference towards

public affairs. In fact, more than half of the young respondents (52%) said that they do have

interest in politics; among these 9% declared that they are highly interested.

In the meantime, many of the respondents (48%) indicated that they are not interested at all in

politics.

Men revealed to be more interested in politics (59%) than women (47%) were.

Despite the efforts invested by the various components of civil society in promoting

participatory democracy since the revolution, the concept of "participatory democracy"

remains unknown or unclear to most of the Tunisian youth. In fact, slightly more than half of

the respondents (51%) have already heard of participatory democracy, but only 10% of these

knows exactly what it means.

11%

36% 44%

9%

Are you generally interested in politics?

Not at all

Rather not

Rather yes

Totally

6

Following the adoption of the new constitution and while political parties involved in the

national dialogue were seeking to reach a consensus on the date of the elections, it must be

noted that youth did not participate in this process. The indifference towards politics is clearly

mirrored by the results: actually, a large part of the respondents (40%) revealed having no

knowledge regarding the new constitution. However, 60% of them reported the opposite and

only 6% of these indicated having a thorough knowledge about the new Tunisian

constitution.

The results were no different of those regarding youth's knowledge of the electoral law, as 2

respondents out of 3 (66%) said that they have no knowledge about this new law. On the

other hand, 29% indicated that they have a vague knowledge of it and 5% said that they have

a thorough knowledge of this law.

An average of just 10% of the surveyed young people have an idea about the municipal

budget and only 2% of them indicated that they have an in-depth idea of it.

47%

10%

41%

2%

Have you already heard of "participatory democracy"

No

Yes, I have a thoroughunderstanding

Yes, but I do notunderstand what it is

RA

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2. Youth understanding of the participatory democracy

79% of the youth surveyed showed no interest in meetings and debates led by the local and

regional authorities. Only 17% declared that they are interested in such meetings.

On the other hand, many of the respondents (49%) consider participating in meetings with the

deputies or the local authorities whenever possible. This percentage is likely to decrease.

However, the same cannot be said about 41% of the respondents who revealed that they are

not interested in the consultation meetings with the deputees and the local authorities.

40%

66%

90%

54%

29%

8%

6%

4%

2%

THE TUNISIAN CONSTITUTION

THE ELECTORAL LAW

THE BUDGET OF YOUR REGION'S MUNICIPALITY

Do you have an idea about

No knowledge Slight knowledge Thorough knowledge

49%

42%

9%

Are you willing to take part in meetings and debates with NCA members representing your region?

Yes

No

DK/RA

8

What is a good decision?

According to the respondents, a "good decision" made by their elected representatives should

come after consulting experts (87%), or after discussing it with the concerned citizens (85%).

76% of the respondents think that a good decision is also a decision that is line with the view

expressed by the majority.

On the other hand, a little over half the respondents (51%) consider that a good decision is a

decision that is in line with their thinking.

58% of the respondents are for laying the foundations of participatory democracy among

citizens and officials; whereas 28% of them perceive it as a positive step yet do not consider

it an immediate priority.

However, only a minority (2%) of the respondents thinks that this process is neither important

nor useful.

Only 2% of the respondents think that participatory democracy and consulting the citizens is

"a very bad process " or "a rather bad" process. However, 37% of them think that it is "a

rather good process" while 52% think that it is a "very good process". 9% of the youth

surveyed did not respond to this question.

58% 28%

3%

2% 8%

In your opinion, is it, generally, necessary to lay the foundations of PD?

Yes, it is a positive step

Yes, but it is not apriority

No, it is not important

Neither important noruseful

DK/RA

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3. Personal experiences

14%of the respondents said that they knew that the municipality or special delegation in their

region has already set forth participatory democracy initiatives, such as organizing debates or

public meetings. On the other hand, the majority of the respondents (48%) insisted that the

municipality in their region has not organized any such meetings. In addition, many of the

surveyed youth replied that they cannot respond to the question since they d not know

whether such initiatives were taken by their municipalities or not.

Moreover, an average of 81% of the respondents denied having participated at least once in

the consultation meetings organized by their municipality during the last year, and only 5%

have taken part in it. Two thirds of the latter percentage (66%) judged their participation to be

of no impact on the consultation process or on the final decision.

The survey revealed more poor results: only 14 % of the surveyed population indicated being

part of an association or a trade union (1% in a leading position, 6% as active members

and7% as participants). Moreover, 85 % of the surveyed youth said that they are not part of

any civil society organization, and only 11% of them mentioned that they support an

association or a trade union.

52% 37%

2% 9%

In general, do you think that PD is:

A very good process

A rather positive process

A negative process

DK

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As demonstrated above, the results are even poorer as for the youth involvement in political

parties. In fact, only 5% of the respondents indicate that they are members of a political party:

Just 3% of them are active members. Moreover, the vast majority of the respondents (95%)

are not part of any political organization; only 11% of them are supporters, while the rest

(84%) showed no interest at all to the political life.

These findings confirm that the Tunisian youth has had enough of the party politics. The new

generation is disappointed at the way politics are conducted in Tunisia after the revolution.

Many of them are willing to contribute, yet growing weary of unfulfilled promises. Their

perception of politics has been distorted.

Three years after the revolution, the Tunisian youth has little faith in politics as well as in

political institutions. Moreover, the relationship between the youth and senior members of

political parties is further marked by a sentiment of distrust.

As for voting intentions, 39% of the respondents intend to vote in the coming municipal

elections, whereas 2% of these revealed that they will go to the polling stations only to cast a

blank vote.

However, 29% of the respondents have not yet decided whether they will cast their vote or

not and 27% of them revealed that they intend to boycott the elections.

1% 7% 6% 11%

74%

1% 2% 2% 11%

84%

OFFICIAL ACTIVE MEMBER PARTICIPANT SUPPORTER NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY

Level of dedication within the civil society organization/political party

Civil society organization Political party

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More generally, based on these findings we can see that age influences voting intentions: the

older a person is, the more likely he/she will vote. As shown in the graphic below, youth

voting intention is only of 35% among those aged between 18-24, whereas it reaches 42%for

those aged between 25-30 and 45% for the 31-35 category.

It is also noted that the intention to boycott the ballot is more apparent among the youth in

Sousse than it is in other regions.

40%

2%

28%

30%

Do you intend to vote in the next municipal elections?

Yes

Yes, a blank vote

No

DK

35%

42%

45%

2%

1%

1%

30%

26%

22%

31%

27%

29%

POP [18 -24 YEARS OLD]

POP [25 -30 YEARS OLD]

POP [31 -35 YEARS OLD]

Voting intentions by age group

Yes Yes, a blank vote No DK

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What about youth participation in political demonstrations and events?

Besides voting and contributing to the social and political life, the youth, however, resorts to

other ways of engaging in their communities.

In fact, strikes, signing petitions and sit-ins are recognized as common ways of expressing the

youth's opinion. According to this survey, 31% of the respondents said that they have already

yook part in a sit-in or a strike during the last year. However, only 15% of the respondents

stated that they have signeda petition, and 13% of them have participated in political

meetings and 10% participated in local meetings in the last 12 months.

During the same period, 63% of the respondents have watched NCA debates on TV and

39% have used social networks to express their political opinions.

34%

50%

54%

30%

34%

5%

1%

0%

2%

2%

26%

21%

22%

24%

43%

34%

23%

21%

44%

18%

EL KEF

GAFSA

MEDENINE

SFAX

SOUSSE

Voting intentions by Region

Yes Yes, a blank vote No DK

10%

15%

31%

63%

13%

39%

89%

84%

67%

36%

86%

59%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

PARTICIPATED IN A LOCAL MEETING

SIGNED A PETITION

TAKEN PART IN A SIT-IN OR A STRIKE

WATCHED NCA DEBATES ON TV

PARTICIPATED IN A POLITICAL MEETING

EXPRESSED YOUR OPINION VIA SOCIAL NETWORKS

During the last year, have you:

No Yes

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Based on these findings, it is concluded that youth do not consider political parties as the only

way to express their civic commitment, since political commitment is particularly expressed

through other non-established forms, rather than through associations, political parties or trade

unions.

4. Youth opinions and views:

We interviewed young participants in the survey regarding the expected effects of

participatory democracy, and their responses were mainly positive. In fact, 85% of the

respondents think that participatory democracy leads to committing citizens to the local life

and 83% of the respondents think that it ensures that their voices are heard by their elected

representatives before making decisions. Moreover, participatory democracy increases

citizens' commitment to decisions already made according to 82% of the respondents,

enhances the transparency of decisions made according to 76% and further improves public

decisions' effectiveness in the opinion of 76% of the respondents. In addition, a large rate of

the respondents (80%) sees participatory democracy as a tool to monitor the work of the

elected bodies.

A little less than two thirds of the respondents (64%) thinks that consultation enhances

citizens' patriotism and drives them to willingly pay their taxes.

Not as many of the respondents think that participatory democracy have people believe that

their opinions are being heard, yet the decisions are eventually made without taking them into

account. Actually, 44% of the respondents are for this statement, whereas 42% are against

it.

On the other hand, 54% of the surveyed youth considered that these participatory democracy

initiatives are likely to slow down the process of political decision making.

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The respondents are far from tarring all the politicians with the same brush.

Despite their lack of confidence in their political representatives, the youth repulsion towards

politicians is, yet, relative. In general, although members of the Cabinet are neither elected

nor appointed by NCA members, they are somewhat better off in terms of youth's rejection

compared to other politicians.

That is, 49% of the respondents judged the current government to be honest (opposed to

45%).

NCA is the only political institution directly elected by the people ("universal direct

suffrage") following the revolution. As such, it would be interesting to look into the level of

trust youth have in this institution.

In an attempt to measure this level, it is noted that youth harshly judge their regional

representatives at the NCA. In fact, only 33% of the young people surveyed trust their

representatives. This result proves to be slightly better compared to the level of trust in

Special Delegations ( 27% ).

The level of youth confidence in political institutions is, therefore, very low. Nevertheless, if

we look into the results separately obtained by each institution, the level of distrust is rather

less serious. Accordingly, 41% of the young people surveyed stated that they do trust the

President. (whereas 54% don't).

2%

4%

2%

15%

2%

2%

2%

6%

5%

3%

4%

6%

27%

9%

6%

7%

21%

9%

31%

35%

34%

25%

31%

32%

30%

35%

32%

53%

47%

48%

19%

45%

49%

50%

19%

33%

10%

9%

10%

14%

13%

11%

10%

18%

21%

INVOLVE CITIZENS IN THE LOCAL LIFE

INCREASES CITIZENS' COMMITMENT TO DECISIONS ALREADY MADE

HAVE PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THEIR OPINIONS ARE BEING HEARD, YET NOT …

ENHANCES THE TRANSPARENCY OF DECISIONS MADE

FURTHER IMPROVES PUBLIC DECISIONS' EFFECTIVENESS

ALLOW CITIZENS TO MONITOR THE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

SLOWS DOWN THE POLITICAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS

ENHANCES CITIZENS' PATRIOTISM AND MOTIVATES THEM TO PAY THEIR …

In your opinion, today, PD can result in:

Totally disagree Rather disagree Rather agree Totally agree DK

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If we analyse these results according to area of residence, this sentiment towards the President

is more apparent in rural areas, as roughly half of the respondents (48%) said they trust him.

If we have a more in-depth look at the results, we would notice that those who have chosen to

boycott the ballot in the next municipal elections are the ones who are the most distrustful of

political institutions.

21%

23%

28%

19%

32%

32%

26%

27%

24%

31%

33%

43%

3%

3%

8%

5%

20%

10%

6%

5%

SPECIAL DELEGATION

NCA REGIONAL MEMBERS

PRESIDENT

MINISTERS

Do you totally, rather, rather not, or have no trust in each of these representatives' ability to make good decisions?

No trust Rather trust them Rather trust them Totally trust them DK/RA

48%

48%

56%

38%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I DO NOT TRUST THEM

I TRUST THEM

Youth level of trust in the President by area of residence.

Urban Rural

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Q15a Do you totally, rather, rather not, or have no trust in Special Delegation?

Q15b Do you totally, rather, rather not, or have no trust in NCA members representing

your region?

I do not trust them

I trust them DK/RA

I do not trust them

I trust them DK/RA

Yes 42% 37% 21%

Yes 48% 42% 10%

Cast a blank vote

73% 27% 0%

Cast a blank vote

64% 36% 0%

No 61% 23% 16%

No 68% 24% 7%

DK 57% 17% 26%

DK 54% 30% 17%

RA 47% 40% 13%

RA 53% 33% 13%

Q15c Do you totally, rather, rather not, or have no trust in the President?

Q15d Do you totally, rather, rather not, or have no trust in the ministers?

I do not

trust him I trust him DK/RA

I do not trust them

I trust them DK/RA

Yes 50% 46% 4%

Yes 37% 59% 4%

Cast a blank vote

55% 45% 0%

Cast a blank vote

82% 18% 0%

No 66% 32% 2%

No 52% 44% 4%

DK 47% 42% 11%

DK 49% 41% 10%

RA 53% 40% 7%

RA 40% 53% 7%

These findings suggest that youth distrust of state institutions and politicians leads them to

boycott the elections.

Generally, two main factors have had a negative impact on the role of Tunisian political

institutions. The first one is the protracted transitional period, and the second factor is the

impacts of the economic and political crisis.

Regarding the question about the right to participate in consultations, 30% of the respondents

think that only people with a good educational level have the exclusive right to participate in

the consultation meetings. Slightly less respondents (29%) believe that the exclusive

participation right should be given to the youth.

Furthermore, a tiny minority of the respondents (no more than 6%) stated that they are

against the participation of women in consultation meetings.

When asked about the topics that "they would like to discuss with politicial officials", 51% of

the young people surveyed, who were asked to respond spontaneously (without referring to a

selection list), cited "employment and fighting unemployment". This can be easily explained

by the high unemployment rate. Unemployment has always been a major challenge facing the

youth. It is, therefore, no surprise that it is cited as a top priority especially during the current

economic downturn.

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30% of the respondents mentioned regional development that ranked as the second topic to be

discussed with NCA regionally elected members.

Security and the fight against terrorism came third on the list of the most important topics to

be discussed with political officials (16%). The same percentage of the respondents (16%)

stated that they prefer to address the matter of price control and poverty alleviation.

As far as 15% of the respondents is concerned, education should be a top priority subject, and

14% of them cited environment and pollution control as a priority.

At the bottom of the list, 9% of the respondents cited health (quality, improving access to

healthcare). Further down the list, transparency and fighting against corruption were

mentioned by 8% of the respondents, social situation was mentioned by 6% and 4% of the

respondents cited better public transport as their priority topic.

On the other hand, 19% of the young people surveyed think that the unemployed should have

the exclusive right to participate in the consultations. Whereas 21% of them indicated that

only members of civil society organizations and members of trade unions are entitled t the

right of taking part in consultations. 11% of the respondents think that this advantage (the

exclusive right to participate in consultations) should be given to members of political parties.

51%

30%

16% 16% 15% 14% 9% 8% 6% 4%

22%

What are the topics you would like to discuss with political officials?

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5. Level of youth commitment to promoting participatory

democracy:

We have studied the willingness of the general public to commit itself to promoting

participatory democracy.

Almost 7 respondents out of 10 (67%) stated that they are likely to personally commit

themselves to promoting this cause. This collective motivation is an asset that must be

exploited particularly by civil society organizations.

Involvement in the civil society is the promotional model of participatory democracy that

youth prefer the least . In fact, only 50% of the young people surveyed reported their

willingness to join an association to promote this cause. However, 60% of the respondents

said that they would do so by signing petitions and 62% by using social networks.

37%

52%

47%

32%

38%

34%

39%

39%

39%

36%

40%

33%

19%

5%

11%

22%

13%

25%

2%

1%

1%

7%

6%

5%

MEMBERS OF ASSOCIATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND TRADE UNIONS

MEN

POLITICAL PARTIES

YOUTH

UNEMPLOYED

PEOPLE WITH A GOOD EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

In your opinion, the exclusive right to participate in the consultations should be given to:

Totally disagree Rather disagree Rather agree Totally agree

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60%

50%

62%

32% 37%

28%

8% 13% 10%

SIGN A PETITION JOIN AN NGO TO PROMOTE PD IN YOUR REGION

POMOTE PD ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

Are you willing to

Yes No DK

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Conclusion

The present study is an attempt to highlight the opinion of the youth regarding a crucial topic

that directly affects this section of the population.

The survey results have further confirmed the sense of estrangement marking the relation

between young people and State institutions, despite the fact that these latter are elected

institutions. This can only assert that Representative Democracy alone cannot voice the

people’s opinion.

The lack of trust that the youth is demonstrating towards the elected institutions, as well its

insisting on boycotting political parties indicate that young people are rejecting the overall

political system and is willing to bring changes to it.

We, therefore, conclude that Tunisian youth is in the midst of a dilemma. The main actor

behind this dilemma is the youth itself; since it is torn between rejecting the current political

system while expressing its anger towards it and, on the other hand, refuses to take part in the

political process and chooses to alienate itself from it.

The present survey was undertaken to evaluate young people’s opinions and their readiness to

take part in the public life. It is a starting point of a whole project, established by the

organization, aiming to enshrine the principles of Participatory Democracy among the youth

and urge them to invest more efforts and further contribute to the decision making process on

the local level.

As in all such scientific studies, this work is far from being perfect. Yet, it was conducted

following a clear and strict scientific methodology.

21

Annex

Methodology

To ensure the representativeness of the sample, we used the method of gender quotas after

stratisfying results by region and area (urban, rural).

The survey was conducted in 5 governorates: Gafsa, Sfax, Sousse, Kef and medenine.

The selection method of individuals was carried out in four phases:

First Phase: Dividing the sample between the targeted governorates on the basis of

probability proportional to size (PPS):

The representative sample was divided between the targeted governorates (Gafsa, Sfax,

Sousse, Kef and Médenine) in both areas (rural and urban) proportionally to the targeted

population's size (young people aged between 18 and 35 years old in these governorates).

Geographic distribution of the sample

Governorate Pop [18 35 years old]

Urban Rural % Total % sample Urban2 Rural3

El Kef 229,96 51% 49% 12% 72 37 35

Sousse 317,99 81% 19% 16% 96 78 18

Sfax 376,15 65% 35% 44% 264 172 92

Médenine 273,05 79% 21% 14% 84 66 18

Gafsa 271,42 74% 26% 14% 84 62 22

Total 1468,57 65% 35% 100% 600 390 210

Second Phase: Selecting delegations in each governorate using, once again, PPS method

while taking into account the area criterion.

Third Phase: Choosing the targeted communities, based on the list of rural/urban areas.

22

Fourth Phase: Undertaking a systematic survey (by randomly choosing the first

household and choosing the other households following exactly the same pattern), then

selecting the targeted individual in each household based on Kish method1.

Sample size:

The aim is to form a sample in order to generalize the observations to the overall population.

There are three main factors to determine the sample size of a population survey:

The estimated prevalence of the study variable.

The targeted level of reliance

The acceptable margin of error

Regarding survey models that are based on simple random sample selection, the required

sample size is calculates according to this formula:

n= t² x p(1-p)

m²

n = required sample size

t = level of reliance of 95% (a typical value of 1,96)

p = estimated prevalence of risk factors in the targeted population. (p= 0.5)

m = error margin of 4%

n=600 with an error margin of +- 4%

The size of this sample is divided between observation sites according to their demographic

weight.

The data collection method was conducted through a paper-based questionnaire directly filled

by the interviewees. The answers were therefore collected directly from the targeted

population at home.

1 Kish grid is a random selection method of an individual among other eligible individuals of a household

belonging to a sample of a household survey. The selected individual or "the Kish" is the person interviewed

or the person subject to data collection. [ Wikipedia] (FR)