Afrobarometer: Round I Survey of Zimbabwe, September-October 1999 Version 1

The Afrobarometer project assesses attitudes toward democracy, markets, and civil society in several sub-Saharan African nations. This survey of Zimbabwe recorded Zimbabwe citizens' opinions about recent political and economic changes within their country. Respondents were asked about their current satisfaction with economic conditions in Zimbabwe, how they currently obtained food to eat, what resources they relied on for safety, and what they did to obtain health care. They were also asked how often in the last 12 months they or their family had gone without food, felt unsafe in terms of crime, gone without medicine, or gone without shelter. Respondents were asked how often they attended meetings of such organizations as church groups, local self-help associations, and trade unions. Their opinions were elicited on who they felt was responsible for providing schools, creating jobs, building houses, and reducing crime. They were asked what came to mind with the word "democracy" and whether they could identify their country's Vice President, Minister of Finance, Parliament member, or local councillor. Respondents were also asked how often they got news from such sources as radio, television, or newspapers and how closely they followed what was going on in government and public affairs. They were asked how interested they felt the President was in what happened to them, how much of the time they could trust the President, and their overall approval of the President. Respondents were asked the same questions regarding the national Parliament and local government. In addition, those polled were asked how much of the time they felt they could trust such institutions as the army, the police, courts of law, and the Supervisory Electoral Commission, and whether they participated in such activities as the 1996 national elections, attending an election rally, working for a political candidate or party, or writing a letter to a newspaper. They were also asked to rate how strongly they would support the government taking the following steps: shutting down newspapers, radio, or television stations that were critical of the government, dismissing judges who ruled against the government, banning political parties, or suspending the Parliament and cancelling the next elections. Demographic information was elicited from respondents, including political party affiliation, age, education, and employment status. Datasets: DS1: Dataset Afrobarometer Survey Series Citizens of Zimbabwe aged 18 years and older. Multistage, clustered, random probability sample.