On-Line Poll on G8 Closes
25/07/2009
About 1,000 members of the public have taken part in the first on-line survey on the G8, which was launched to coincide with the start of the Summit on 8 July and ended on 25 July. Mainly men (about 70%), of Italian nationality (over 73%) and of all ages, the 25-29 age group taking a slight lead (about 13%) answered “Have Your Say on the G8.”
On the whole, a positive view of the G8 Summit emerges: it is seen as an opportunity for raising Italy’s profile abroad and as holding out development potential for Abruzzo. The critical comments reveal a demand for greater involvement in the Summit on the part of civil society, on which the onus of assessing the outcome of the Summit proceedings should also rest. As far as the cost of organising the G8 is concerned, readers split in half between those who considered it commensurate with the purpose served and those who believed it ought to be cut down or done away with.
An analysis of the answers to the individual questions reveals that over 80% of respondents followed the G8 Summit with interest. Over 80% came out greatly or fairly in agreement with the assertion that the G8 leaders play a leading role in the international community, and over 65% agreed wholly or in part that the G8 countries have the moral authority to debate the world’s problems. The overwhelming majority (over 85%) of the members of the public who answered the survey advocated greater civil society involvement in the Summit. However, the reactions to the assertion that “the G8 is not the right forum for debating world issues; new political tools are called for” showed an almost uniform spread, those coming out “not at all” in agreement having the slight majority (28%), whereas 22% answered “not much,” 24.9% “quite a lot” and 25.1% “very much.”
The year of the Italian G8 presidency is seen by 70% of the public as an opportunity to raise Italy’s profile abroad, without greatly inconveniencing the local community or triggering law and order problems (60%). The decision to move the G8 venue from La Maddalena to L’Aquila is wholly or partly endorsed by 63% of the respondents, whereas the Summit is seen as a redevelopment opportunity for the Abruzzo region by over 65%.
The response to the question about cost and the resources allocated to the G8 Summit is interesting, 38.2% of the public regarding them as commensurate with the Summit’s purpose. The percentage of negative responses is worth emphasising: indeed, 28.5% highlight the need to reduce the size of each delegation to contain costs, whereas 21.9% regard the cost of the Summit as a waste of money to be done away with by using information technologies, such as video conferencing.
Furthermore, the G8 countries ought to share their responsibilities with the G5 countries (China, Mexico, India, South Africa and Brazil) according to 28.8% of the respondents, with the United Nations (23.7%) and with the developing countries (23.6%).
Last but not least, the outcome of the G8 proceedings should be assessed by civil society according to 42.4% of the members of the public who took part in the poll, or by an appropriate international organisation according to 22.3%.
A more detailed analysis of the poll’s outcome, complete with a number of graphs, will be published over the next few days.
