Governance issues have taken center stage in discussions about development, as citizens and aid donors alike recognize the crucial role of accountability and responsiveness of government and other key national institutions for successful development efforts. The InterMedia survey in Nicragua asked people about their level of trust in government and other institutions, as well as their views on democracy and the role of media in society.

Urban Nicaraguans expressed mixed views on the trustworthiness of their national government. Roughly half said they either completely or somewhat trusted their government, but close to 30 percent expressed complete distrust. Similar results were observed when respondents were asked to guage their satisfaction levels in the government (Chart 1A)

Chart 1

                                                                 A                                                                                                     B

                                                                 C                                                                                                                 D

Parliament received a very poor grade, with close to half of respondents expressing complete distrust, whereas 23 percent were somewhat distrustful (chart 1B). By contrast, local and municipal governments fared well on the trustworthiness scale (chart 1D).

Chart 2

                                                                  A                                                                                                              B

                                                                        C                                                                                                         D

Interestingly, urban Nicaraguans were more likely to trust their public health and educational institutions (charts 2A and 2C). What's more, despite the ongoing impact of the global economic crisis, close to 60 percent respondents said they trusted banks and financial institutions (Chart 2D).

However, half of the respondents were said they were dissatisfied with courts and judges and close to half of the respondents either completely or somewhat distrusted them.

The respondents also had fairly high levels of trust in institutions protecting state and public security- the trust they placed in the police and in the army were between 60-67 percent.

The highest trust was placed in religious institutions- 75 percent of urban Nicaraguans said that they either completely or somewhat trusted them. In congruence with this sentiment, more than 90 percent also said that religion played an important role in their life.

Opinions on Democracy

Chart 3

                                                                     A                                                                                                         B

Wavering trust in government does not seem to have lessened urban Nicaraguans faith in democracy. As can be seen in Charts 3A and 3B, more than two thirds of urbanites surveyed agreed that Nicaragua is a democratic country, and that democracy is preferable to other types of government.

Public Opinion on the Media

Chart 4

                                                                 A                                                                                                               B

The government in Nicaragua has been criticized for restricting of access to information and creating a climate of intolerance toward criticism. Its communication strategy aims at providing information only to media outlets that are sympathetic to the government and to the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front. [1] The information made available is said to be not always transparent and is often manipulated to further the interests of the government.

The responses from the survey suggest that respondents were aware of this situation: about seven in 10 of the surveyed Nicaraguans agreed that the media is influenced by the government and by economic groups (Chart 4A and 4B)).

Chart 5

The government limits its official advertising to media outlets that openly support its actions and decisions. Over the years, the government’s attacks on the opposition media has increased significantly with the print media being the most affected. [2] More than 70 percent of the respondents agreed that there was self censorship in the media to ensure their protection (see chart 5).

Chart 6

                                                                           A                                                                                                           B

Despite this controlled media environment, a surprisingly high number of respondents placed their trust in the media and also considered it to be relatively free (Charts 6A and 6B). Given the responses to the previous questions about the media, this may indicate a general lack of awareness about the nature of truly free, uncensored and democratic media.

Interest in News Topics

A significant proportion of respondents (93 percent) said they were very or somewhat interested in staying informed about national news, but their interest in news about neighboring countries was much lower (Charts 7A and 7C). Respondents were very interested in economic news, while they were about evenly split on whether they were interested in news about politics (Charts 7B and 7D).

Chart 7

                                                                     A                                                                                                           B

                                                                     C                                                                                                              D

The government in Nicaragua has been criticized for restricting of access to information and creating a climate of intolerance toward criticism. Its communication strategy aims at providing information only to media outlets that are sympathetic to the government and to the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front.  

The government limits its official advertising to media outlets that openly support its actions and decisions. Over the years, the government’s attacks on the opposition media has increased significantly with the print media being the most affected.

---

[1] Nicaragua Special Report: Daniel Ortega's Media War”, Committee to Protect Journalists http://cpj.org/reports/2009/07/daniel-ortegas-media-war.php

[2] Ibid.