Election, parties

In January 2004, 60% of Czech citizens expressed willingness to participate in the election to the European Parliament. On the other hand, a quarter of Czech voters do not want to vote. The remaining 15% of respondents were still undecided. The declared willingness to participate in the election to the European Parliament does not match the willingness to participate in an election to the Chamber of Deputies.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 70% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 31% and ‘probably yes’ by 39%), while 22% said no (13% ‘probably not’ and 9% ‘definitely not’) and 8% did not know.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 65% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 30% and ‘probably yes’ by 35%), while 29% said no (15% ‘probably not’ and 14% ‘definitely not’) and 6% did not know.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table. The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 67% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 33% and ‘probably yes’ by 34%), while 27% said no (13% ‘probably not’ and 14% ‘definitely not’) and 6% did not know.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table. The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 67% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 29% and ‘probably yes’ by 38%), while 26% said no (13% ‘probably not’ and 13% ‘definitely not’) and 7% did not know.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table. The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 65% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 36% and ‘probably yes’ by 29%), while 27% said no (14% ‘probably not’ and 13% ‘definitely not’) and 8% did not know.

In a June survey, we focused on what citizens think about the funding of political parties. Approved by 94% of respondents, membership fees are the most supported form of funding. Financial donations from party sympathisers received approval from only a slightly smaller percentage of respondents (87%). 71% of those polled approve of contributions from sponsors and interest groups and the majority of people (58%) also agree that parties should be able to have income from own business activities.

In its June survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre investigated the attitudes of respondents towards political parties and their role in society. The survey included two extensive aggregates of statements and those polled were asked to express their approval or disapproval with each one of them. Further two questions dealt with the issue of internal plurality within political parties. The comparison of the results obtained reveals a certain discrepancy in public opinions: on the one hand, the majority of respondents (67%) think that divergence of opinions should not occur within parties, but on the other hand most respondents (59%) are also persuaded that members of parliament should vote according to their own opinion and not according to what has been agreed within the party.

Compared to the results obtained a month ago, the preferences of the ODS fell slightly during June, in spite of which the party remains in the lead, keeping a comfortable margin. As regards the KSCM, the party suffered a considerable drop in preferences. None of the political parties recorded a major increase in popularity and there are now more people who would not participate in an election and could not choose a political party.

All respondents having the right to vote were traditionally asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table. The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week.