The trust of Czechs in the government, the Senate and local governments fell in February and March this year compared to the turn of the year, according to a survey by the Center for Public Opinion Research. Only in the House of Representatives did the level of trust remain at the same level as in the previous survey. Out of constitutional institutions, people continue to express the greatest trust in mayors and municipal councils, which are trusted by about two-thirds of the country’s population.
The same level of trust as in the survey conducted from last November to this January was maintained in the new survey only by MPs, whom 33 percent of people trust. But this is also the lowest level of trust in the current survey. The same proportion of people now express confidence in the government, which has only slightly deteriorated compared to the previous survey – by one percentage point.
For other constitutional institutions, the drop in trust compared to the previous survey was more significant, by four to nine percentage points. Regional councils suffered the most, with trust falling from 55 to 46 percent.
The situation is similar for the governors, for whom the level of trust has decreased from 53 to 45 percent. 36 percent of respondents now express confidence in the Senate, compared to 41 percent at the turn of the year.
65 percent of Czechs currently trust mayors and municipal representatives. Since the last survey, trust in mayors has decreased by six percentage points and in municipal councils by four percentage points. Trust in the government and Parliament is expressed more often by people with a higher standard of living and higher education. The level of trust in the government, MPs and senators is often lower, for example, among older people and also among supporters of the left.
Despite the decrease in trust in politicians at almost all levels of political representation, the satisfaction of the Czech population with the political situation has increased. In the last survey, 16 percent of people were satisfied with it, while now it is 19 percent.
The share of neutral responses also increased from 23 to 26 percent, i.e. people who are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. On the contrary, the share of those who are dissatisfied with the political situation fell from 59 to 53 percent.
In the current survey, compared to previous ones, people did not comment on the president. The survey was mainly carried out in February and the first weeks of March, i.e. after the election of the new president Petr Pavel, but for the most part before he took office. The survey was conducted from January 31 to March 20. It was attended by 861 residents of the Czech Republic over the age of 15.
