ANALYSIS: All social classes rank integrity as the most important value in formulating political policies, writes CARL O'BRIEN, Chief Reporter
MODERN POLITICS may be synonymous with focus groups, stage-management and soundbites. Yet, it seems what voters really want from politics is old-fashioned honesty and integrity. Today’s poll asks people what values they think are most important in formulating political and economic policies.
The majority (55 per cent) opt for “honesty, integrity and transparency”. All age groups and social classes rank it as the most important value.
Awareness of policies’ effects on the wellbeing of others ranked next (21 per cent), followed by respecting others’ rights, dignity and views (18 per cent). Preserving the environment ranked at just 3 per cent.
When broken down by age, demand for honesty and integrity is highest among middle aged and older age groups, reaching towards 60 per cent among voters above the age of 35.
Surprisingly, the numbers drop to 42 per cent among those aged 25 and under. These younger voters placed a greater emphasis than other age groups on “respecting people’s rights, dignity and views”. Some 33 per cent of under-25s cited this as their most important value, compared to just 15 per cent among the over-55s.
While the environment has tended to rank highly among young people in previous opinion polls, there is little sign of it here.
Young people are just as likely as older people to see “preserving the environment” as the most important aspect of policy formation. It ranked at 4 per cent for both.
Yesterday’s results on religion offered a interesting insight into the extent to which people consider themselves religious.
It found overall that most regard themselves as moderately religious (45 per cent), followed by loosely religious (29 per cent) and strongly religious (13 per cent).
A further 13 per cent say they are not religious at all.
When these results are cross-referenced to attitudes towards issues such as abortion and whether women priests should be allowed, they provide a window into how the “strongly religious” feel about them.
On the issue of women priests, some 75 per cent of “strongly religious” feel they should be allowed. This matches closely the overall figure of 78 per cent.
Similarly, on the issue of priests being allowed marry, some 83 per cent of “strongly religious” say they should. Again, this is similar to the overall figure of 87 per cent.
There is a bigger gap on the question of assisting a friend to obtain an abortion. In this case, 39 per cent of “strongly
religious” said they would, compared to the national figure of 49 per cent.
Another feature of the poll results over previous days is the evidence of a major generation gap over questions such as faith and morality. What has been striking is how liberal attitudes appear increasingly to extend into middle age.
Again, some of today’s poll results reflect this. On the issue of whether you would assist a friend to obtain an abortion abroad if asked to do so, a total of almost half (49 per cent) of all respondents said they would.
Just over a quarter would refuse and try to persuade her to have the baby (26 per cent), while another quarter (24 per cent) say they would take some other course of action.
When broken down by age, younger and middle aged people are much more likely to help. Just under 60 per cent of those aged under 45 would assist. This number reduces dramatically among older people, with just 35 per cent of the over-55s saying they would help in getting an abortion abroad.
There is a similar pattern on responses to whether doctor-assisted suicide should be legalised.
A majority of respondents across most age groups agree it should be legalised, with the exception of the over-65s.
Younger people and more middle aged people are most likely to agree, with support levels at between 55 and 60 per cent.
Among the over-65s, more people are opposed (46 per cent) than in favour (40 per cent).