The latest census of the CPOR shows that more than a half of economically active Czech citizens are satisfied with their jobs. Another two fifths of respondents state that they are half satisfied and half unsatisfied. Job dissatisfaction was expressed only by 6% of respondents. Satisfaction with one’s job differs between those who are employees and those who are entrepreneurs managing small, medium or large enterprises; three quarters of entrepreneurs are satisfied with their jobs compared to only a half of those who are employees.

In its February survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre examined the public opinion on the activities of Charta 77. The respondents were, as was the case in 1993, asked two closed questions. The first question focused on the overall assessment of the activities of Charta 77, while the other investigated the reasons why people had signed the document.

28% of respondents say that Charta 77 prepared the demise of the communist regime; nearly a third (31%) are of the opinion that the activities of Charta 77 had no impact, 3% think that it endangered other citizens and 38% cannot judge the activities of Charta 77 (it is interesting to note that this figure stood at 51% in 1993).

In February 2004, approximately 29% of respondents considered the standard of living of their household as being good. 48% described it as neither good nor bad, and 22% characterised it as bad. 5% of inhabitants consider their household to be rich, 28% consider it to be relatively poor or even very poor and two thirds consider it neither rich nor poor. Difficulties when managing the current income of their family were stated by 59% of respondents, 37% of respondents stated that they coped with the household budget more or less easily.

Dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs outweighs satisfaction in all the monitored areas except the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. The greatest dissatisfaction is expressed in respect of the current unemployment rate. Over four fifths of those polled are dissatisfied and a half of Czech citizens very dissatisfied with the current unemployment rate. Three quarters of respondents also voiced their dissatisfaction with the extent of corruption in our country and approximately 6 out of 10 Czech citizens gave a negative assessment of the functioning of the Czech economy and the quality of social security.

In the February survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre extensively treated questions concerning the position of the president of CR. First of all we interrogated all the respondents about which electoral method is, according to their point of view, the most suitable for the Czech Republic.

The Czech public in general and also all the important subgroups of the population agree that the president of the republic should be elected by all voters.

As for the question about whom the president should be approaching directly during the discharge of his office, the public regards as trouble free contacts mainly communication with citizens in general (91 % yes, 7 % no) or – to a lesser extent – with socially weaker population groups (67 % yes, 25 % no). As far as the president’s direct contacts within the political sphere are concerned, the Czech public agrees largely on relations with the government coalition parties (72 % yes, 23 % no), the strongest political party (63 % yes, 31 % no) or opposition parties represented in the Parliament (61 % yes, 32 % no), but not so in the case of contacts with non-parliamentary opposition (40 % yes, 50 % no) or a party, which is politically closest to the president himself (33 % yes, 59 % no).

In the February survey of the Public Opinion Research Centre we focused on the Czech public views concerning the work and competencies of the president of CR. First we were interested in the citizens’ opinions concerning what the primary activities of the president should be. It was an open question (without any suggested answers) and the respondents had the opportunity to mention up to three fields, which – according to their opinion – should be prioritised by the president.

In a February survey of the Public Opinion Research Centre, Czech citizens presented their opinions on, inter alia, the election to the European Parliament. Respondents were first asked whether they wanted to participate in the election.

In February 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 (26%) did not want to vote.

The absolute majority of the Czech public rejects the deployment of Czech soldiers for combat in Afghanistan, while support for this step was voiced by less than a fifth of respondents (17 %), opinions against were expressed by three quarters (75 %) of citizens. Resentment to sending a Czech special unit to Afghanistan clearly prevails among supporters of all political parties, with the strongest disagreement being voiced by supporters of the KSČM (90 % against, 7 % for), followed by followers of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) (78 % against, 14 % for), Christian Democratic Party- Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL) (73 % against, 23 % for) and ODS (70 % against, 24 % for).

In February 2004 Czech citizens expressed the highest level of confidence in the president of the country (71 %). The lowest number of the respondents expressed confidence in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Both institutions are now trusted by only a fifth of the respondents. Compared to January 2004 there was a significant drop in the level of the public’s confidence in the Czech government (it is currently regarded as trustworthy by 26 % of citizens).