The average value of last year’s Civic Power Index is 36.7 points out of 100 possible. It is higher than the value of 2022, which was equal to 35.9 points, but slightly lower than the record high value of the first year of the pandemic, 2020 (41.3 points).
According to the research, the biggest influence on the annual change of the civic power index was caused by the reduced assessment of possible risks associated with civic activities. From 58 percent In 2022, up to 48 percent. the number of respondents who believe that the members of society who currently initiate or actively participate in civic actions could be publicly attacked, slandered, subjected to group bullying, attempts to undermine authority decreased. Also from 47 percent In 2022, up to 40 percent. last year, the number of respondents who associate the same civic activity with the risk of receiving threats of confrontation also decreased.
“This trend of 2023 shows that after a couple of previous years of public opposition, which was clearly seen in protests, demonstrations and reactions to them, the relations between citizens in our society are now normalizing,” the director of the Civil Society Institute, Ieva Petronytė-Urbonavičienė, is quoted as saying in the report.
It is indicated that last year the indicators of the assessment of potential civic activity and civic influence also improved – an increase in the average values of 1.6 and 1.3 points, respectively, compared to 2022.
Last year, Lithuanian residents actively donated (52%), participated in environmental clean-up efforts (37%), boycotted or bought goods for moral or political reasons (25% and 23% respectively), participated in local community activities (25% ), signed petitions online (22%).
In a separate representative survey of Lithuanian teachers, at the end of 2023, the civic power index of Lithuanian teachers was also assessed. As in previous years, the results showed that Lithuanian teachers have significantly more civic power than society in general.
The average value of the teachers’ civic power index in 2023 is 51.6 points out of 100 possible (14.9 points higher than the society as a whole). Mostly, teachers are ahead of the whole society in their civic activism, and they are also more interested in public affairs, a larger part of them than the whole society said that they would start organizing actions if there was a local, economic or political problem in the country – 48%, 15% respectively. and 11 percent teachers willing to take the initiative. The perception of teachers’ civic influence is also higher than that of all groups in society.
In the Civil Power Index study, a lot of attention was paid to the preparedness of the population for emergency situations and the understanding of their place in the defense of the state.
“The data revealed that the Lithuanian population’s preparedness for emergency situations is low, but the population wants to know their place in the national defense plan and is ready to learn,” said Ainė Ramonaitė, professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences of Vilnius University, in the report.
The survey showed that only 24 percent residents said they have fully prepared water and food supplies for 72 hours, as recommended. Another 31 percent stated that they had reserves, but not enough, and 42 percent replied that he did not have such stocks.
Also 41 percent residents said that they do not have or do not know a place that can be reached quickly enough where they can safely hide in the event of military aggression or other emergency situations. Only 10 percent indicated that they knew of a collective hiding place or shelter, others would hide in their own or relatives’ homes.
When asked whether they would have somewhere to evacuate to a safer place if war threats or other extreme danger arose in their area of residence, 38 percent. answered that they do not have such a place, others stated that they have another home to which they could evacuate, or that they could shelter with relatives or friends. Opportunities to self-evacuate vary greatly by people’s social status, with the unemployed, pensioners and people on the lowest incomes mostly without a place to evacuate themselves, the study shows.
When asked if they have discussed the action plan, what to do in the event of an emergency, with their family or other household members, only 28 percent. answered “yes”, 62 percent answered that they had not discussed such a plan, and the rest did not know or had no one to discuss it with because they were single. When asked about discussing the emergency plan at the workplace, only 14 percent. of people indicated that they had discussed such a plan at the workplace.
The survey asked whether people knew what role people like them had in national defense plans in the event of a threat of war. Only 9%, 59% answered positively to this question. answered that they did not know, and 31 percent said they didn’t know for sure, but had a guess. However, almost 70 percent in the next question, they indicated that they wanted to know their role, and 46% would personally like to participate in training or exercises to prepare for emergency situations, including the threat of war.
In addition, when asked whether society as a whole should participate in universal defense and civil resistance in the event of a threat of war, 58 percent. answered “definitely yes” or “rather yes”, 32 percent. chose the answers “rather not” or “definitely not”, and the rest did not know.
The results of the teachers’ survey show that compared to the entire society, teachers are more inclined to defend Lithuania. Although the number of those intending to defend the country with a weapon is almost the same as in the entire population – 12 percent. compared to 15 percent of teachers. of the entire society, when evaluating this number, it is necessary to keep in mind that among the surveyed teachers, more than 85 percent consists of women. Significantly more teachers – 56 percent. compared to 38 percent in society as a whole – are ready to defend the country by other means.
At that time, 27 percent members of public organizations participating in the study said that they would defend the country with a weapon if it were attacked. 55 percent indicated to defend the country in other ways. Members of public organizations also know or assume their role in the event of war better than the general public – 20 percentage points more such answers than the general public.
The same difference compared to society as a whole exists when asking about the desire to participate in training and exercises in order to prepare for emergency situations. It is true that only 5 percent of members of public organizations participated in such trainings.
The civil society index of Lithuania has been measured by the Institute of Civil Society since 2007. The index of civic power shows what the public’s interest in public affairs is and how it is changing, civic participation and its potential, the population’s attitude to the available civic powers, and the evaluation of the social environment’s favorability to civic activities.
The studies of the civic power index are based on representative surveys of Lithuanian society. In the analysis, the public survey data are additionally weighted according to gender and age.
The 2023 Civic Power Index survey was funded by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor.
Tags: people country participate defense state determined learn
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