Author

  • Levan Kakhishvili

    Levan Kakhishvili is a Policy Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) and a doctoral fellow at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS) in Germany. Since October 2018, Mr. Kakhishvili is a DAAD scholar pursuing his doctoral research on political party competition in post-Soviet hybrid regimes. His field of expertise includes democratization, political parties, Georgia’s foreign policy with a focus on Georgian-Russian relations, and issues related to national identity, ethnic minorities and nationalism. Mr. Kakhishvili has obtained two Master’s degrees: MSc in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford, St Antony’s College and MSocSc in Transformation in South Caucasus from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. During 2015-2018, as an invited lecturer, he has taught various courses related to political science at the International Black Sea University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.

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04/03/2019 Levan Kakhishvili

Decreasing level of trust in Georgian political parties: What does it mean for democracy and how to avoid negative consequences?

Publish Date:
04-03-2019

Trust in political parties in Georgia has dropped from 21 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2017. Although the level of trust has never been particularly high, this trend should raise concern and inspire political parties to act. Political trust is mostly determined by societal beliefs and political institutions. This paper analyzes both of these dimensions to demonstrate the roots of the distrust. In terms of beliefs, the paper explores four aspects of trust as perceived by the Georgian public: competence, benevolence, integrity, and predictability. The paper also considers the role of political institutions.In particular, it discusses the lack of transparency of political parties, which adds to voters’ lack of awareness and knowledge — and leads to low levels of trust. The paper includes an analysis of a range of public opinion surveys conducted between 2015 and 2018, including CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer and NDI public opinion polls, which provide insights on public perceptions and beliefs. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the low level of political trust is perilous for Georgian democracy — specifically for political parties’ ability to perform their representative functions. Political parties and other stakeholders interested in Georgia’s democratic consolidation should be aware that the high share of distrustful voters has a direct impact on the level of citizens’ participation in politics. Specifically it means their involvement in party politics will remain low. Therefore, this paper elaborates a number of recommendations for Georgian political parties, civil society organizations and think tanks in Georgia as well as donor organizations to take action to increase trust in political parties in Georgia.

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Levan Kakhishvili

Levan Kakhishvili is a Policy Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) and a doctoral fellow at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS) in Germany. Since October 2018, Mr. Kakhishvili is a DAAD scholar pursuing his doctoral research on political party competition in post-Soviet hybrid regimes. His field of expertise includes democratization, political parties, Georgia’s foreign policy with a focus on Georgian-Russian relations, and issues related to national identity, ethnic minorities and nationalism. Mr. Kakhishvili has obtained two Master’s degrees: MSc in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford, St Antony’s College and MSocSc in Transformation in South Caucasus from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. During 2015-2018, as an invited lecturer, he has taught various courses related to political science at the International Black Sea University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.