GALLUP
NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, a rapidly developing nation that diverges broadly from Haiti on established social indicators. Haiti ranks in the last tier of the latest United Nations Human Development Index, and scores lowest on Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index and is perceived as the most corrupt nation. In addition, Haiti has the lowest literacy (53%) and average life expectancy rates (53 years) in the Americas. By contrast, 85% of Dominicans are literate, and the population has an average life expectancy of 72 years.
These disparities are reflected in Gallup World Poll data on the two populations' attitudes toward their basic social institutions. In the Dominican Republic, where Leonel Fernandez is serving his second term as president, 64% say they have confidence in their national government. Haiti's new government elicits far less trust. Rene Preval, often regarded as a champion of the poor, was controversially elected last year on promises to bring peace to the nation that is plagued by gang violence.. But in the survey conducted five months after the election, just 36% of Haitians express confidence in the national government.
Confidence in nearly all of Haiti's basic institutions is extremely low. For example, just 21% of Haitians have confidence in the country's courts, 33% in its financial institutions, and 31% in its healthcare system. Dominicans are much more positive about these institutions in their own country.
The differences are somewhat a reflection of history. After winning independence from France in 1804, the Haitian people cut off the country's links to Europe's culture and well-developed institutions. Dominicans, meanwhile, maintained institutional standards closer to those established during colonization, which helped foster the development of stronger middle- and working-classes, and encouraged foreign trade.
None of this is to suggest that the Dominican Republic has been a model of responsible governance -- far from it. The country suffered under the repressive dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo from 1930 to 1961. Even today, Dominicans are just as likely as Haitians to say corruption is widespread in their government (74% vs. 73%, respectively) and nearly as likely to say corruption is widespread in business (62% vs. 70%). And only about a third of both populations say they have confidence in the honesty of elections in their country.
But Dominicans seem much less demoralized by that corruption than do Haitians. The vast majority of Dominicans, 84%, say they're satisfied with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives, compared with just 41% of Haitians. As long as the greater stability of Dominican institutions continues to attract foreign investment and uphold Dominicans' sense of self-efficacy, such gaps in optimism are likely to remain.
Survey Methods
Results are based on face-to-face interviews conducted during October 2006 with a randomly selected sample of 505 Haitian residents and 1,000 Dominican residents, aged 15 and older. For results based on the Haitian sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±5 percentage points. For results based on the Dominican sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
