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Survey: Presidency, Army, Church and the EU lead charts on people's trust in public institutions
The Presidency takes the top spot in the charts showing trust in political institutions, the Army leads the charts of executive institutions, the social and private institutions chart is led by the Church, while the European Union enjoys most trust in the realm of international institutions, according to a poll conducted by INSCOP Research on the orders of daily newspaper Adevarul.
The poll indicates the fact that the presidential elections had a strong impact on the trust placed by Romanians in institutions, a large part of them suffering significant evolutions or involutions when compared to the measurements taken in October.
The trust figures for December 2014 indicate the fact that in the political institutions category, the Presidency takes the top spot with 43.9 percent high and very high trust, compared to 17.8 percent recorded in October 2014.
Following, in the category, are Town Halls — 37.9 percent (42.7 percent in October 2014), the Constitutional Court — 36.4 percent (33.5 percent in October), County Councils — 26 percent (29.7 percent in October), Government — 25.5 percent (27 percent in October), Parliament — 19.7 percent (16.8 percent in October), and political parties — 12 percent (10.9 percent in October).
The fact that the Presidency is the institution that benefits from such a powerful increase is absolutely normal given the trust investment made by the public in the winner of the elections, who was at the first presence both as a candidate to the highest position in the state, and as president, INSCOP claims in its interpretation.
The Army leads the hierarchy of trust in executive institutions with 76.1 percent (69.2 percent in October).
Following, in the charts, are the Gendarmerie — with 65.3 percent high and very high trust (60.3 percent in October), the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) — 55.8 percent (48.3 percent in October), the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) — 52.6 (48.2 percent in October), the Police — 51.4 percent (47 percent in October), the National Bank of Romania — 51.3 percent (49.6 percent in October), the Foreign Intelligence Service — 46.8 percent (45.9 percent in October) and the National Integrity Agency (ANI) — 39.2 percent, compared to 37 percent in October 2014.
"All the institutions in the list have recorded increases since the previous measurement. The changes are a consequence of public perception due to the fact that recently the judiciary was very active — the most significant increases are related to the institutions with attributes in one way or another to the realm of anti-corruption or tangent to the realm: DNA, SRI, the Police, and ANI. The Army and Gendarmerie also benefit from significant increases in trust. In the case of the Army we may note an absolute record, the first breaking of the 70 percent barrier and with a considerable margin at 76.1 percent high and very high trust", INSCOP says in its interpretation of the results.
The Church dominates the charts of public trust in social or private institutions in the month of December 2014 with 60.6 percent high and very high trust, compared to 62.4 percent in October. The following spots are taken up by universities — 43.8 percent (40.3 percent in October), press — 32.5 percent (37.4 percent in October), civil society organizations — 28.6 percent (27.4 percent in October), companies — 21.8 percent (20 percent in October), trade unions — 18.7 percent (22.4 percent in October) and banks — 17 percent, compared to 18.7 percent in October.
In what regards international institutions, the top spot in the trust ratings is taken by the European Union, with 56.6 (48.8 percent in October).
Following it are NATO — 54.6 percent (51.7 percent in October), the UN — 51.6 percent (49.2 percent in October), the European Commission — 50.8 percent (45.2 percent in October), the European Parliament — 50.8 percent (45.1 percent in October), the World Bank — 39.8 percent (36.1 percent in October), and the IMF with 30 percent, compared to 28.7 percent in October.
The INSCOP analysis shows that the significant change, in relation to the charts of October, comes in the form of the EU's moving from 3rd to 1st in the hierarchy, with a record increase of eight percent, and also notes the significant increases in the trust ratings of the European Commission and of the European Parliament.
The "INSCOP Barometer — Truth about Romania" was carried out by INSCOP Research at the request of Adevarul daily between November 27 — December 2, 2014. The sample size was of 1,076 persons and is representative for the population of Romania aged 18 and over. The maximum admitted error is plus/minus 3 percent, at a confidence rating of 95 percent. The method used was of that of the opinion poll based on a questionnaire filled in by interview operators at the homes of respondents.