01.09.2011
Features of politicians: through the eyes of voters
- The Rating Group launched a new project entitled “Traits of Politicians,” intended to serve as a mirror through which politicians can see themselves through the eyes of voters, their direct employers. The project was introduced at the beginning of a new political season that was expected to be highly consequential. For this reason, the analysis was based on data collected in May and June 2011, that is, before the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko, before possible new turns in the Gongadze case, before the unification processes between Serhiy Tihipko and the Party of Regions, before renewed attempts to consolidate the opposition, and before many other important developments. The next wave of the study, planned for October–November, may reveal different sides of these politicians, but that will be another story.
- At this stage the focus was on the traits of politicians whose parties, at the beginning of summer, formed the top five in national ratings: Viktor Yanukovych, Yulia Tymoshenko, Arseniy Yatseniuk, Serhiy Tihipko and Oleh Tyahnybok. Yanukovych and Tymoshenko are perceived first and foremost as strong leaders, with 20 percent and 26 percent of respondents respectively associating them with this quality. On this dimension they outperform Tihipko, Yatseniuk and Tyahnybok by at least two times. Importantly, both Tymoshenko and Yanukovych are regarded as strong leaders both in Western Ukraine and in Donbas.
- Yanukovych is most strongly associated with having a team of professionals, a trait attributed to him by 14 percent of respondents, far ahead of all others. Other qualities more often attributed to him than to his competitors include being religious, being reliable and being able to find compromises with political opponents. Tymoshenko, by contrast, is more often described as speaking in a clear and understandable way, caring about people like the respondents themselves and being able to defend the state. Both Yanukovych and Tymoshenko are equally perceived as representing Ukraine well abroad, fulfilling their promises and caring about family values. Serhiy Tihipko is primarily associated with knowing how to manage the economy, while Arseniy Yatseniuk is mainly associated with being able to bring change and with having an effective program for the country’s development. Oleh Tyahnybok is most strongly associated with patriotism and with caring about national traditions and culture.
- At the same time, respondents also attribute negative traits to these politicians. A significant proportion believe that Yanukovych cares only about power, and nearly as many say the same about Tymoshenko, while somewhat smaller shares express this view about Tihipko, Yatseniuk and Tyahnybok. These perceptions are widespread both in the West and in Donbas. For example, nearly a quarter of respondents in the West and more than forty percent in Donbas think that Tymoshenko cares only about power, while almost thirty percent in Donbas and nearly half in the West think the same about Yanukovych. Only one to three percent of respondents believe that any of these five politicians can be described as honest. Instead, a substantial share believes that Tymoshenko lies, followed closely by Yanukovych, while smaller but still notable shares say the same about Tihipko, Yatseniuk and Tyahnybok. Roughly forty percent of residents of the South, East and Donbas think that Tymoshenko lies, whereas about forty percent of residents of the West, North and Center think that Yanukovych lies. About a quarter of respondents consider Yanukovych and Tymoshenko corrupt, while smaller proportions say this about Tihipko, Yatseniuk and Tyahnybok.
- An especially interesting dimension of the study concerns how voters of each party perceive their own leaders. Supporters of the Party of Regions view Yanukovych primarily as a strong leader with a professional team, who knows how to manage the economy and who keeps his promises. Supporters of Batkivshchyna see Tymoshenko primarily as a strong leader who represents Ukraine well internationally, speaks clearly and fulfills her promises. Thus, in the eyes of their own voters, Yanukovych and Tymoshenko share the core traits of being strong leaders and promise keepers, although Tymoshenko scores higher on both. Yanukovych is more closely associated with professional management and economic competence, while Tymoshenko is associated with communication skills and international representation. Yanukovych is also perceived as more reliable, more religious and more inclined to compromise, whereas Tymoshenko is more often seen as able to protect the state and to care about family values.
- Supporters of Tihipko and Yatseniuk share the view that both politicians know how to manage the economy, can bring change and have development programs, but neither is strongly valued for leadership qualities. Tihipko is more often valued for having a professional team and for keeping promises, while Yatseniuk is more appreciated for speaking clearly and being reliable, although he is seen as lacking a strong team.
- For Svoboda voters, Tyahnybok is above all a patriot, a defender of national traditions, a strong leader and an agent of change. He is perceived as religious in a way similar to Yanukovych, as speaking clearly and keeping promises in a way similar to Tymoshenko, and as change-oriented in a way similar to Yatseniuk. At the same time, he is not seen as able to manage the economy, as capable of compromise, or as having an effective development program.
- Overall, the findings suggest that Ukrainian politicians appear both very similar and very different at the same time.
Methodology
- Survey population: residents of Ukraine aged 18+.
- Sample size: 2000 respondents.
- Method: face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire.
- Sampling error: up to ±2.2% (50%), ±2.0% (30%), ±1.3% (10%), ±1.0% (5%).
- Fieldwork period: 26 May – 2 June 2011.
- Regional breakdown:
- West: Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi.
- Center: Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy.
- North: Kyiv City, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv.
- South: Crimea, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol.
- East: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv.Donbas: Donetsk, Luhansk.
Contact form
Have questions?
Please, fill in the form below and we will reach out to you soon.
