[Public Opinion Briefing 30-1] The Revival of the Progressive Camp and the Stagnation of the Conservative Camp

[Public Opinion Briefing No. 30] 2008 Power Organizations Trust and Influence Survey

[1] Summary of the 4th Power Organizations Trust and Influence Survey Results - Shin Chang-woon & Jeong Han-ul

[2] Changes in Power Organization Influence and Trust Basis, and Policy Implications - Kang Won-taek

[3] Declining Trust is a Cause for Concern / High Influence, Low Trust Persists - Lee Hyun-woo

1. Summary of the 4th Power Organizations Trust and Influence Survey Results

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Shin Chang-woon (JoongAng Ilbo Public Opinion Survey Expert) & Jeong Han-ul (EAI Public Opinion Analysis Center Deputy Director)

The survey revealed that the most powerful organizations in Korean society are major conglomerates and power institutions such as the judiciary, the Blue House, the prosecution, the police, and the National Tax Service. Major political parties were found to be the groups most distrusted by the public. Furthermore, trust in progressive organizations has strengthened, while belief in conservative organizations has weakened. This is according to the '2008 Power Organizations 25 Influence and Trust Evaluation' survey jointly conducted by JoongAng Ilbo and the East Asia Institute (EAI, President Lee Sook-jong).

Major conglomerates such as Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG ranked 1st to 4th in both influence and trust. However, in Samsung's case, while its influence was ranked 1st (7.06 points), its trust ranking dropped from 1st (6.55 points) last year to 4th (5.80 points) this year due to the fallout from the recent slush fund scandal. The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court showed the highest influence and trust after the major conglomerates.

Traditional power institutions, including the Blue House, were also evaluated as organizations with high influence in Korean society. However, they did not gain trust commensurate with their power, resulting in a significant gap between influence and trust. In the case of the Blue House, its influence significantly expanded compared to the end of the Roh Moo-hyun administration (4.89 points to 5.96 points), but its trust only increased slightly in relative terms (4.03 points to 4.27 points).

The most significant characteristic of the 2008 survey is the rise in trust for progressive civic and interest groups, while trust in conservative organizations has generally declined. For instance, the trust rating for the People's Solidarity for Participatory Self-Help (PSPH) rose from 14th last year to 11th, whereas the trust rating for the New Right significantly dropped from 10th (4.91 points) to 23rd (3.94 points).

Public trust in major political parties remained at rock bottom this year. The ruling Grand National Party ranked 21st out of 25 power organizations with a trust score of 4.11 out of 10 points. The United Democratic Party ranked 22nd (3.96 points), the Democratic Labor Party ranked 24th (3.89 points), and the Liberty Forward Party ranked 25th (3.52 points), forming the lowest group among the surveyed organizations.

This survey was conducted via telephone over three days. On March 28th, 584 men and women aged 19 and over nationwide were asked to evaluate the influence and trust of 11 different organizations. On the 29th, 607 people were surveyed, and on June 2nd, 635 people were surveyed. The sample was selected using a quota sampling method based on population proportions by gender, age, and region. The maximum permissible sampling error is ±3.9 to 4.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

How the Survey Was Conducted

The East Asia Institute's Civic Politics Panel Team designed the survey questions, and the JoongAng Ilbo Survey Research Team conducted the telephone survey and data processing for this survey evaluating the influence and trust of 25 power organizations in Korean society.

Respondents were asked to evaluate 33 power organizations, including traditional power institutions, the legislature, the judiciary, civic groups, interest groups, and media organizations. The influence survey allowed respondents to choose between 0 points ('no influence at all') and 10 points ('very high influence'). Similarly, the trust survey allowed responses between 0 points ('very distrust') and 10 points ('very trust'), and average scores were calculated. As in the previous year, 8 media organizations, including terrestrial broadcasters and major general daily newspapers, were included in the survey but excluded from the analysis because JoongAng Ilbo, the surveying institution, was among the organizations evaluated. Therefore, the total number of organizations analyzed is 25.

If respondents were asked about the influence and trust of 33 organizations, they would have to answer 66 questions. Considering that the maximum number of questions allowed in a telephone survey is 15-20, the surveyed organizations were divided into three groups and surveyed over three days. When interpreting the survey results, non-sampling errors that may arise due to the grouping of survey subjects and time differences must be taken into account.