Popular Attitudes on Tunisia's Transition

This optimism is marked, however, with deep worries about the economic situation and unanswered questions about the future of democracy and governance in Tunisia. The Tunisian public is optimistic about the overall trajectory of the country, but maintains modest expectations about the pace of change. Tunisians expect and want their country to become a democracy, but perceive that key conditions have worsened since the revolution, including unemployment, economic inequality, crime and insecurity, corruption, and moral values. They see their political freedoms, such as individual rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of the media, as improving by double-digit margins as a result of the revolution. Tunisians exhibit a strong deference to religion and mixed attitudes toward women's rights and status. They express support for formal religious tolerance and express disapproval of conversion, criticism of religion, and inter-religious marriage. A strong majority desire for Tunisian law to conform to sharia, even if they are themselves unclear as to what exactly sharia entails. Tunisians overwhelmingly expect women to veil, although the practice is not prevalent among younger women. The survey finds that the generation gap appears to be the most significant political and social fault line in contemporary Tunisia. Tunisia's youth are more likely to have a pessimistic view of Tunisia's economic situation and less likely to trust both state institutions and political parties. Despite disproportionate participation in the revolution, young Tunisians are significantly more distrustful of political parties and institutions. Their support for Ennahda is far less than other age groups, and their support for Congress for the Republic (CPR) is disproportionately higher. Youth appear to be less religious than older age groups, trusting religious authorities significantly less and half of young Tunisian women do not veil despite nearly two-thirds of Tunisians saying it should be obligatory. Young Tunisians are less observant than older groups and less likely to approve of conforming public laws with religious precepts. On economic issues, young Tunisians are more pessimistic, believing prices have worsened more than other cohorts and are more likely to emphasize unemployment as the most important problem facing Tunisia. At the popular level, economic nationalism is a near-unanimous perspective in Tunisia, with a strong desire for the government to play an active role in keeping prices stable. Tunisians are open to foreign companies investing in their country and playing a role in their economy. A majority of Tunisians are also open to foreign nongovernmental organizations operating in their country, but believe they must do so only under government supervision. Tunisians see corruption and abuse as having been widespread under the previous regime and view bringing perpetrators of these crimes to justice as an important priority. As Tunisia continues the difficult work of political transition amid difficult economic circumstances, its new leaders should not forget to provide some form of accountability for the misdeeds of the previous regime. Ultimately, the survey indicates Tunisia will face increasing generational splits over the country's current conservative social norms as it transitions to what Tunisians universally hope and expect will be a democracy at a time they face economic challenges that they hold to be the country's most pressing problems. In short, there is currently something of a societal consensus in Tunisia, but generational cracks in this consensus exist. The ability of the government to curb the worsening of key conditions – unemployment, crime and insecurity, economic inequality, corruption, and moral values – may well determine the fate of Tunisia's transition. If Tunisians begin to perceive democracy as the cause of such problems, their enthusiasm for it and support for the transition will be short-lived.