Supported by: Freedom House, Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Project span: May 2002 – September 2002

Project team: Oľga Gyárfášová, Marián Velšic, Vladimír Krivý, Katarína Pafková

Co-organizing Institutions: SME daily (publishing division), FOCUS Agency (field collection of data); GfK Slovakia (field collection of data)

Objective: To compare the views of two important opinion-making groups within society – experts and the public – on important issues of Slovak societal development. The views of the public were gathered through representative research of the opinions of the adult population that corresponds to the make-up of Slovak society. The views of the experts were gathered from authors, co- authors, and opponents of the publication Global Report on the State of Society. The group of experts was thus comprised of upwards of a hundred independent specialists covering a broad spectrum of aspects of the life of the society. They included mostly economists, political scientists, journalists, lawyers, and sociologists.

The research focused on collecting a variety of opinions, including: evaluation of the development of the economy; evaluation of Slovakia’s international standing, the state of democracy in the country, the level of corruption; quality of the education and health care systems; evaluation of Rudolf Schuster in the position of the President of the Slovak Republic, positions on Slovakia’s integration into the European Union; perception of the most pressing problems in society; expectations of the future; what will be decided in the September 2002 elections; and other issues.

Outputs:

What do the public and experts think? A 9-part series of presentations of research findings published periodically in the SME daily. Available in the Slovak language only.

1. O čom predovšetkým rozhodnú septembrové voľby [What will be primarily decided in the September elections], SME; May 31, 2002

2. Hodnotenie vývoja ekonomiky – verejnosť nešetrí čiernou farbou [Evaluation of the Development of the Economy – Public’s Gloomy Perception], SME 
 

3. Hodnotenie zahraničnej politiky, demokracie, školstva, zdravotníctva, korupcie – verejnosť nesníma čierne okuliare [Evaluation of Foreign Policy, Democracy, Education System, Health Care System, and the Level of Corruption], SME; July 7, 2002 

4. Hodnotenie pôsobenia Rudolfa Schustera v prezidentskom úrade [Evaluation of Rudolf Schuster in the Office of the President], SME; July 12, 2002 

5. Kedy sa podľa vás stane Slovensko členom Európskej únie [When Will Slovakia , in Your View, Become a Member of the European Union] , SME; July 26, 2002

6. Najzávažnejšie spoločenské problémy podľa názoru verejnosti a odborníkov [The Most Pressing Problems in Society in the Perception of the Public and Experts], SME; August 9, 2002 

7. Ako reaguju odborníci a verejnosť na rozšírenie vyplácania detských prídavkov na všekty deti a posunutie vekovej hranice odchodu do dôchodku u žien [How Experts and the Public React to the Broadening of Child Assistance Funds Payments to Include All Children and the Issue of the Extention of the Retirement Age for Women], SME; August 23, 2002

8. Aká bude situácia vo vybraných oblastiach o 3-4 roku oproti dnešku? [What Will Be the Situation in Select Areas 3-4 Years from Now?], SME; September 6, 2002

9. Aké sú šance Slovenska po parlamentných voľbách [What are Slovakia’s Chances After the Parliamentary Elections], SME; October 2, 2002

Interviews for regional, nation-wide and foreign media.