More than 60% of Portuguese citizens tend to distrust the Assembly of the Republic, higher than the European average of 56%, according to a portrait of political perceptions published this Sunday by the Pordata agency.
According to a report analyzing Portuguese perceptions of politics produced by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation’s statistical database, which uses data from the 2023 Eurobarometer, eight out of 10 respondents in Portugal tend to distrust political parties, in line with the trend in 19 of the 27 European Union countries ( EU), where more than 70% of people tend to distrust political parties.
Data from the European Social Survey shows Portugal is among the four countries whose citizens have the least confidence in their ability to participate in politics (83%), behind Slovakia (84%) and alongside Latvia and the Czech Republic (83%).
Continuing to talk about political participation, Pordata points out that 73% of the country’s citizens believe that the system allows little or no influence on politics, a view shared by more than half of the countries analyzed, with the exception of Norway, Switzerland and other countries. Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands, where political systems are believed to give people some degree of influence.
Taking into account the various opportunities for political participation, in the past 12 months, 15% of respondents reported contacting a politician, 12% posted or shared some content about politics online, 12% signed a petition, 5% boycotted a product. for political reasons and 4% participated, including through donations, in the activities of a political party or interest group (trade unions and confederations of employers, professional associations, environmental associations and others).
According to the report, more than half of those surveyed (56%) say they are satisfied with national democracy, slightly above the European average of 55%, although 43% report dissatisfaction.
In terms of interest in politics, the Portuguese and Italians are Europeans who spend the majority of their time watching, listening or reading news about politics or current events (more than two hours a day), with four out of every 10 people in Portugal speaking out a lot. or some interest in the topic.
However, according to Eurobarometer data, 32% of Portuguese people say they never talk about politics with friends or family, and only 10% say they discuss the topic often, well below the European average of 25%.
In terms of political positioning, taking into account the left-right spectrum, 31% of respondents in the country say they position themselves in the centre, 28% more on the left and 19% more on the right, compared to the European average of 38%. towards the center, 28% more to the left and 23% more to the right.
The report also noted 16% of respondents who did not know how to answer this question and 6% who refused to do so.
Regarding the justice system, Portugal is among nine EU countries where more than half (53%) of respondents tend to distrust the justice system, nine percentage points above the European average (44%).
On the other hand, more than half of respondents (54%) in Portugal tend to trust the European Union, compared to the European average of 47%.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.