[By Michael Freund, International Affairs Correspondent]
An annual survey by Jordanian researchers has found that the kingdom’s citizens do not perceive their country’s political system as being very democratic, the Jordan Times reports.
The poll, conducted among 1,386 respondents by the University of Jordan’s Center
for Strategic Studies, asked participants to rate the level of democracy in various countries on a scale ranging from zero to ten, with ten being the highest.
According to the results, Jordanians give their own country a score of just five, a number that has varied little in the annual surveys, including those conducted since King Abdullah II ascended to the throne in 1999.
Fares Braizat, one of those involved in carrying out the poll, said that “Jordanians perceive Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Syria as non-democratic countries. They find Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon partly democratic, and Israel and the US are perceived as democracies.”
An impressive 90 percent of respondents said that democracy would be the best form of government for Jordan, but just 49 percent said that the country’s present system can actually be described as democratic. Twelve percent said that Jordan’s regime is authoritarian in nature.
Jordan is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Hashemite dynasty. The country’s prime minister is appointed by the king.
An annual survey by Jordanian researchers has found that the kingdom’s citizens do not perceive their country’s political system as being very democratic, the Jordan Times reports.
The poll, conducted among 1,386 respondents by the University of Jordan’s Center
King Abdullah II
According to the results, Jordanians give their own country a score of just five, a number that has varied little in the annual surveys, including those conducted since King Abdullah II ascended to the throne in 1999.
Fares Braizat, one of those involved in carrying out the poll, said that “Jordanians perceive Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Syria as non-democratic countries. They find Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon partly democratic, and Israel and the US are perceived as democracies.”
An impressive 90 percent of respondents said that democracy would be the best form of government for Jordan, but just 49 percent said that the country’s present system can actually be described as democratic. Twelve percent said that Jordan’s regime is authoritarian in nature.
Jordan is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Hashemite dynasty. The country’s prime minister is appointed by the king.