TRENDS Research and Advisory participated in the 77th Annual Conference of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), held from July 28 to 31 at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, with a research paper. The Center was represented by Ali Abdullah Al Ali, Researcher and Director of TRENDS Dubai, Dr. Mohammed Farid Azzi, Advisor at TRENDS Dubai, and Abrar Mohammed Al-Ali, Researcher and Opinion Poll Specialist at TRENDS. The conference sessions covered several topics, including the challenges of artificial intelligence in public opinion research and survey methods, policy making and survey research, political behavior and participation in survey research, etc.
Large-scale survey
During the session on “Public Opinion Research in the Middle East, North Africa and the GCC,” Dr. Mohammed Farid Azzi, Advisor at TRENDS Dubai, presented a paper titled “Which Political System Do Arabs Prefer and Why?”, based on a large-scale survey that included more than 26,000 citizens from 12 Arab countries.
Dr. Azzi explained that the study covered 12 questions out of the 200 contained in the Arab Barometer survey. Its main objective was to assess the Arab public’s opinion on political systems, including “a strong and effective leader,” “a government capable of solving the country’s economic problems, regardless of their political nature,” and “a government capable of maintaining order and ensuring stability.”
He noted that the responses to these questions were somewhat unexpected, with the majority preferring the rule of a strong and effective leader (68%), a government capable of solving economic problems whatever their nature (70%) and a government capable of maintaining security and ensuring political and social stability (65%).
Economic development
According to Dr. Azzi, the results of this research reveal that the Arab public yearns for economic dignity and needs a political system that can achieve it. The results also indicate that the Arab public is convinced that the transition to a pluralistic and open political system does not guarantee economic development. Furthermore, political transitions to a pluralistic system often lead to the disintegration of security systems, resulting in political and social instability.
