Mudaliar, Christopher and Leach, Michael and Baker, Kerryn and Barbara, Julien and Vaha, Milla and Kotra, Krishna K. and Leodoro, Trevor (2024) Pacific Attitudes Survey: Vanuatu. [Professional and Technical Reports]
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Abstract
The Pacific Attitudes Survey: Vanuatu (PAS: Vanuatu) is the second large-scale popular political attitudes survey conducted in the Pacific region, following the first survey in Samoa conducted in late 2020 and early 2021 (Leach et al. 2022). Comprising 191 questions set out in 21 thematic modules, it covers a broad range of topics including attitudes to democracy, national identity, tradition, leadership, governance, development, climate change and international relations. The survey was nationally representative and conducted between August and October 2023, coinciding with a period of political instability for Vanuatu in which two successful votes of no confidence took place.
The conduct of large-scale, nationally representative
popular attitudes surveys is relatively new in the Pacific
region. Indeed, the Pacific is the only region not covered
by systematic global democracy and values surveys
such as the Global Barometer surveys and World Values Survey. Drawn from a randomised, nationally representative sample of 1330 eligible voters (aged 18 or older) from all six provinces of Vanuatu, the PAS provides important data on prevalent political, cultural and socio-economic attitudes. As such, the PAS offers fresh insights into Vanuatu’s vibrant and unique democratic culture. Importantly, the PAS has been developed as a distinctly Pacific survey, combining
questions from the Global Barometer network with a host of new survey modules of relevance to the region, including climate change and labour mobility.
PAS: Vanuatu findings reflect strong support for both ‘civic’ and ‘ethnic’ markers of national identity.
Respondents ranked more traditional markers of national identity very highly, such as ‘to respect kastom’ (95%), ‘to practise kastom’ (94%) and ‘to have been born in Vanuatu’ (94%) as ‘very important’ for being ‘truly ni-Vanuatu’. Yet these indicators were closely matched by strong support for modern ‘civic’ understandings of national identity, such as ‘respect for Vanuatu’s political institutions and law’ (94%), and ‘to have Vanuatu citizenship’ (94%).
Respondents also expressed high levels of national
pride, though pride in Vanuatu’s distinctive kastom and
culture (92% ‘very proud’) and history (91% ‘very proud’)
scored significantly higher than those aspects tied to
state functions, such as pride in ‘the way democracy
works’ (82% ‘very proud’).
PAS: Vanuatu findings show that ni-Vanuatu are
strongly supportive of democracy. When asked about
their ‘ideal’ preference for forms of government, 76%
agreed that ‘democracy is always preferable to any
other kind of government’. Vanuatu citizens were also
highly satisfied with the way their democracy performs
in practice, with some 84% of respondents reporting
that they were satisfied with ‘the way democracy
works in Vanuatu’, compared with only 16% who were
dissatisfied. Respondents displayed high levels of
confidence that ‘people have the power to change a
government they do not like’ (81%). We also found a
strong correlation between those who perceived the
economy positively, and satisfaction with democracy.
Accordingly, those rating the overall economic condition
of the country positively were significantly more likely
to report satisfaction with ‘the way democracy works
in Vanuatu’ (92%) than those who rated the economic
condition negatively (81%).
But the PAS: Vanuatu findings also highlight a
distinctive and widely embraced mix of democratic
ideals and kastom values, representative of the hybrid
nature of the Vanuatu state. Throughout Vanuatu, strong
support for civil liberties and checks on executive power
was balanced with high levels of respect for customary
institutions. For example, 74% of respondents agreed
that ‘traditional leaders should have a greater say in
politics thanordinary people’.Similarly, anoverwhelming
majority of respondents believe ‘the government should
consult the Malvatumauri [Council of Chiefs] when
making laws’ (94%).
Respondents demonstrated a high level of trust in
Vanuatu’s institutions, despite widespread concerns
about corruption at both national and local levels.
The highest levels of popular trust in institutions were
reserved fortraditional institutions (95% average), such
as chiefs and the Malvatumauri; these were followed
closely by non-elected institutions (94% average) such
as courts; yet elected institutions, like parliament, also
enjoyed high levels of popular trust (85% average).
Respondents also reported high levels of satisfaction
with their government (77%), a perhaps surprising
number given the context of relative political instability
in which the survey data collection took place. On key
political issues, respondents considered a group of
issues relating to the economy (19%), infrastructure
(16%) and government services (15%) as the top three
‘most important problems’ facing Vanuatu.
PAS:Vanuatu findings show that ni-Vanuatu citizens
engage with politics more strongly through local and
traditional, rather than national pathways. Reported
rates of political participation were consistently higher
at local levels, across all demographic cohorts. On
the question of what their member of parliament (MP)
currently focuses on the most, ‘promoting national
development’ (23%) was the most common answer.
Executive summary
viii Pacific Attitudes Survey: Vanuatu
In terms of what respondents believe that their MP
should be doing, however, the most common answer
was ‘helping community projects’ (35%), revealing a
substantial gap between respondent perceptions of
their MPs’ current activities, and a popular preference
for MPs to focus on local development.
This PAS sought to ascertain how ni-Vanuatu
participate in politics. It found that women and youth
are disproportionately disengaged from politics.
Younger people were less likely to report interest in
politics and political activity, and the same was true
for women. A recurring observation throughout the
survey was the relative detachment of young people
from politics. Younger ni-Vanuatu reported lower levels
of interest in politics than older cohorts, with 60% of
respondents aged 18–29 reporting some interest in
politics, compared with 68% of adults (30–59), and
80% for seniors (60 or above). Older ni-Vanuatu were
also more likely to report being politically active. Overall
political engagement was relatively high, with 60% of
total participants agreeing that ‘voting in elections
makes a difference to my day-to-day life’. However,
young people (26%) and women (27%) were less likely
to strongly agree with this proposition than were
seniors (42%) and men (37%). Generally, respondents
believed that the 2022 election was completely or
mostly free and fair. In terms of the media, radio was
the most trusted news source for information about
politics. A substantial proportion of respondents (41%)
reported ‘practically never’ using the internet, a subset
weighted towards older people and women.
Climate change is a major and pressing issue for
ni-Vanuatu. The PAS: Vanuatu found that a strong
majority of respondents believe climate change is an
‘urgent problem that needs to be addressed’ (81%).
The vast majority of respondents also stated that they
had observed changes in the climate over their lifetime
(94%). Notably, a significant majority of ni-Vanuatu
believe that they have a responsibility to accept other
ni-Vanuatu who are displaced by climate change into
their own village over the long term (90%). Findings
also showed a strong belief among ni-Vanuatu that
‘protecting the environment should be top priority,
even if it causes slower economic growth and some
loss of jobs’ (77%) over ‘economic growth and creating
jobs should be the top priority, even if the environment
and community suffers to some extent’ (22%).
There were strong positive attitudes towards
labour mobility schemes. Almost half of PAS: Vanuatu
respondents (49%) reported knowing someone who
has been part of a Pacific labour scheme. Some 77%
of respondents said they would be willing to travel
overseas to work temporarily. Though ‘worsening
family relations’ was identified as the most significant
negative impact of labour mobility schemes by 60% of
respondents, 76% agreed that labour mobility schemes
had been a net positive for their community.
The PAS found attitudes to women’s participation
in politics were generally positive. Some 82% of
respondents believed there are ‘too few’ women
represented in parliament. There was clear support
(87%) for temporary special measures to improve
representation. The PAS also found strong agreement
(74%) that ‘a woman should become Prime Minster of
our country’. Yet social norms of political leadership
in Vanuatu still favour men, with 55% of respondents
agreeing that ‘in general men are better at political
leadership than women’.
Both China and Australia are seen to have a lot of
influence on the Pacific, and Vanuatu specifically,
and their influence is broadly construed as positive.
In terms of popular attitudes to international relations,
respondents regard China (41%) as the country with
the most influence in the Pacific today, ahead of
Australia (35%). When asked to rate how much influence
individual countries have on Vanuatu specifically, 77%
of respondents said that China has ‘a great deal’ of
influence in Vanuatu, narrowly ahead of Australia (76%),
and followed by New Zealand (62%), France (55%) and
the United States (41%). When asked which country
should be a model for Vanuatu’s future development,
Australia (47%) was rated above China (17%), US
(15%), France (7%) and New Zealand (6%) respectively.
Notably, however, the country most ni-Vanuatu believed
should be prioritised in making security agreements
was the United States (59%), followed by Australia
(26%), France (5%) and China (4%).
| Item Type: | Professional and Technical Reports |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Pacific Attitudes, Vanuatu, Political, Social, Climate Change |
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government |
| Divisions: | School of Agriculture, Geography, Environment, Ocean and Natural Sciences (SAGEONS) School of Law and Social Sciences (SoLaSS) |
| Depositing User: | Krishna Kotra |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2025 22:55 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2025 22:55 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/14579 |
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