Democracy on the retreat
Editorial
Haaretz, December 26. 2003
Preliminary results from the "Democracy Index - 2003 Report" published in yesterday's Haaretz, reflect troubling erosion in the public's perception of democracy and of the necessity for it to exist.
The study, sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute and the Guttman Center, is based on surveys carried out during the past year, and on comparisons between these findings and ones compiled in previous years in Israel and in other countries. Its authors conclude that while a clear majority of Israelis favor democracy, the support for the democratic system in 2003 has plunged to the lowest level recorded during the past 20 years.
Currently, just 77 percent of Jews in the country agree that democracy is the best system, as compared to a figure of some 90 percent that remained constant up to five years ago. The comparison to figures from around the world is still more worrisome. In public opinion surveys relating to support for democracy that were conducted in 32 countries between 1999 and 2001, Israel ranks in the lowest tier - with Poland, Chile, South Korea, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Taiwan, Argentina and South Africa.
The finding that a majority of Israelis support "strong leaders" - 56 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that "strong leaders can do more for the state than debates and laws" - and also that fact that 50 percent of respondents concur that if there is a conflict between security interests and the preservation of the rule of law, the former should take precedence, are similarly worrisome. No less troubling are the findings that 23 percent of the Jewish public believes that a soldier can refuse orders, and just 57 percent of respondents definitely agree with the statement that violence should never be used to attain political objectives.
Answers to questions about checks and balances between Israel's three branches of government reflect gaps between Israel's religious and secular populations. Whereas 17 percent of secular respondents oppose processes of judicial review, the figure for the religious is 37 percent; whereas 51 percent of religious respondents said that the High Court's intervention in government decisions is excessive, just 23 percent of secular respondents criticized the court in this respect.
Israel is a young democracy. The national movement that established the state created a revolution among the Jewish people, and brought a variety of Jewish communities and cultures to the Middle East, to an arena of continuing, violent dispute. This dispute, which (among other things) produced the occupation, casts a long shadow over the state and society in Israel, and hedges against the orderly development of democratic government, and acceptance of the democratic system among various groups. Religious pressures - which draw on messianic, nationalistic and other impulses - and other factors threaten to undermine the society's emerging rules and consensus.
In recent years, Israel's society has become divided up into sectors, each of which understands its own values and needs as having precedence over the wider national consensus. Some sectors are preoccupied with their own separate issues; others seek to impose their agenda on the public as a whole. In contrast, Israel's pluralistic, tolerant center is shrinking. The cult of zealous, purist agendas can be seen in the increasing legitimacy accorded to refusal to do military service.
Study finds Israelis' support for democracy plummets
By Yuval Yoaz
Haaretz, December 25, 2003
Support for democracy among Israeli Jews has reached its lowest point in 20 years, with only 77 percent of them saying it is the best system, compared to 90 percent over most of the last 20 years, say the authors of a report on the subject.
A particularly sharp decline in support for democracy - 13 percent - has appeared in the past four years. In the study, carried out between 1999 and 2001, Israel was placed last place on a list of 32 states, alongside Poland, Chile, South Korea, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Taiwan, Argentina, and South Africa.
At the top of the list are Denmark and Greece where 98 percent of citizens are enthusiastic about democracy. The Israel Democracy Institute and the Gutman Center carried out the study, which will be published next week.
Its authors - Professors Asher Arian, David Nahmias, Doron Navot, and Daniel Shani - looked at a number of indices of democracy based on existing databases and carried out their study on a representative group of around 1,000 Israelis in April this year.
The core of the study assesses satisfaction with Israel's democratic system. To the question, "Is a democratic system desirable in Israel," 84 percent said yes, and 16 percent it was not at all desirable or not desirable.
Asked, "Is democracy the best form of government," 78 percent said yes, 11 percent said they were not sure, and 11 percent said it was not.
"The majority of the public supports the democratic system," the authors concluded. However, when the findings are measured over time, a different picture emerges.
Only 77 percent of Jews now think democracy is the best system, compared to 90 percent over the last 20 years, with most of the decline of 13 percent appearing in the last four years.
The study found that 18 percent of the public believes there are situations that justify violence to attain political goals. Israelis still widely oppose violence and even illegal non-violent protest, the report saw a greater willingness than in the past to refuse orders to serve in the territories or to evacuate settlements. Some 23 percent of Israelis believe think soldier may refuse an order to evacuate settlers.
Support for refusing to serve in the territories and to evacuate settlements was identical - 28 percent of those surveyed, with 72 percent against - but support for refusing to evacuate settlements is rising. The numbers are still lower than before the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
Asked, "Do you agree that under no circumstances may violence be justified to attain political goals," 57 percent completely agreed, 25 percent agreed, 11 percent said they did not agree, and 7 percent that they did not agree at all. Among 18 countries surveyed in the index, Israel came tenth.
Asked, "If the cabinet and the Knesset were to pass a law in opposition to your stand on the territories and security, what would you do," 49 percent said they would respect the decision, 44 percent said they would demonstrate legally against it, 6 percent said they would even break the law to protest, but would not use physical force, and 1 percent said they would use any means to protest, including illegal means and force.
Asked if, in a conflict between security interests and the rule of law, which they would prefer, 50 percent said they prefered security, and 17 percent preferred the rule of law.
In another finding 29 percent of Jews said Israel is not democratic enough at present, but 23 percent said it suffers from too much democracy.
Asked if the Supreme Cort should be permitted to void legislation, 50 percent said yes, 23 percent no, and 27 percent were unsure.
There was a clear difference between the religious and non-religious on these questions. Among the non-religious, 54 percent supported the Supreme Court's right to cancel legislation, and 36 percent of religious respondents thought so.
