Researchers at KTU say that democracy is gaining more trust in Lithuania, but society’s self-worth remains low

The data from this year’s survey reveals that more than half of Lithuanian citizens (55 percent of respondents) are proud of the democratic processes in Lithuania. However, they are sceptical about Lithuania’s resilience to threats.

According to the survey’s data, only a third of respondents (29.4%) agree that Lithuanian society is ready to counter the threats of war. However, 44.6% of respondents disagree with the statement, and 26.6% do not have an opinion on this matter.

We do not believe in our power to defend ourselves

The researchers at KTU Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (KTU FSSAH) Professor Dr Eglė Butkevičienė, Professor Dr Vaidas Morkevičius, and Lector Dr Vytautas Valentinavičius, which research the Lithuanian society’s resilience and their attitude and behaviours towards citizen’s science and citizenship, notice that the percentage of people proud of Lithuania and its democratic processes has grown. However, the society’s attitude towards its readiness to counter war threats or crises and recover from them is concerning.

According to Professor at KTU Dr Eglė Butkevičienė, comparing this year’s survey data with data from 2013, we can see that only 23.3% of respondents were proud of democratic processes in Lithuania then.

“As many as 76.6% of respondents disagreed with the statement in 2013. However, more than a decade later, the situation is different. Twice as many respondents are happy with the democratic processes in Lithuania now. Such change in the evaluation of democratic processes is encouraging, however, the survey’s data also reveals that Lithuanians are divided and are sceptical of the country’s preparedness to counter crises,” – says KTU professor.

Society is divided and believes in populism

Analysing this year’s data of the representative population survey commissioned by the KTU FSSAH in summer, researchers at KTU notice that as many as 43% of respondents disagree that our society is ready to counter crises. Only 31.5%agree, while the remaining 24.5%disagree with all statements.

Many respondents (48%) disagree that Lithuania’s society is ready to recover from crises, while only 30.2% agree. More than half of Lithuania’s citizens (54%) agree that Lithuanians are divided and as many as 70.2% of respondents agree that there is a conflict between ordinary citizens and  the government.

The election of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania is coming up this fall, thus there’s another important indicator. As many as 40.6% of respondents agree that Lithuanian society believes in politicians’ populist statements, and only a third of respondents (33.1%) disagree.

“This data possibly explains why more people support new political powers, which use specific rhetoric to evoke deeply-rooted societal stereotypes and wrong beliefs. Populistic politicians are using a political communication strategy which evokes negative feelings and shows hostility towards current political elite in power. The naive electorate, especially in disappointment with the current government, usually believes in those populist politicians, rather than traditional political powers,” – says Lect Dr Valentinavičius.

Democracy is stable

The survey’s questions related to citizens’ engagement in democratic processes revealed that more than half of respondents (34.1%) would protest if politicians aimed to restrict democracy in Lithuania, and 39.7%would not protest but would approve it. Less than one-third (29.8%would protest if politicians aimed to restrict media rights and freedom of speech, and 42.4% would not protest but would approve it.

“On International Day of Democracy, we can celebrate that the majority (three-quarters) of Lithuania’s society cares about democracy and the freedom of speech, and even a third is ready to actively protect it. However, democracy is different for everyone. As the data reveals, the economic aspect of democracy (appropriate living standards) is important to almost all citizens in Lithuania. However, the protection of minority rights is not an essential aspect for almost one-third of respondents,” – says Dr Morkevičius.

Many ethnic groups were surveyed

In a representative population survey commissioned by the KTU FSSAH, the participants were of a Lithuanian (96.6%), Russian (2.2%), Polish (0.6%), Ukrainian (0.5%), Belarusian (0.2%) ethnicity, who live in big cities (39.2%), cities and towns (29.5%), and rural areas (31.3%). 62.5% of the respondents participated in the 2020 election of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and 37.5% did not participate.

Most respondents (37.4%) said they belong to households with income of 1200-2500 euros after tax, and 32.8% belong to households with income of 600-1200 euros after tax. 15.6% belong to households with an income of 2500 euros after tax, and 14.2% belong to households with an income of less than 600 euros after tax.

The company “Eurotela” was commissioned by KTU FSSAH to carry out a representative multi-stage probability sampling and geographical statistics according to the size of the place of residence and the administrative dependency. The survey was carried out in the form of an interview with 1252 respondents. The survey was conducted from May to July 2024. The research sample represents 2,794,207 residents older than 18 years, of which 1,886,148 are city residents and 908,059 live in rural areas.

The researchers at KTU FSSAH research Lithuanian citizens’ attitudes and behaviour towards citizen science and citizenship in the framework of the research project “Strengthening REsilience in Communities and sOciety through citizeN sciEnce and CiTizenship (RECONECT)”, (No. S-VIS-23-14). This research is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania as part of the competitive priority research program “Strengthening Societal Resilience and Crisis in the Context of the Contemporary Geopolitical Situation.“