May 28, 2002
Report & Analysis · Other Poll Releases
Georgians support privatization as long as there is some regulation of the companies providing services, according to the most recent Peach State Poll. While 52 percent of respondents indicated support for privatization, 54 percent of respondents also indicated that they favor regulation. The Peach State Poll is a quarterly survey of public opinion performed by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
Poll results also indicate that the public is not in favor of an extreme laissez-faire economic policy. Seventy-one percent of respondents strongly favor (36 percent) or somewhat favor (35 percent) government support for new technology. Additionally, 59 percent strongly favor (33 percent) or somewhat favor (26 percent) government support for declining industries in order to protect jobs.
Other survey results:
§ Contrary to expected findings, only 51 percent of the Peach State Poll respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that reduction of cost was a reason for supporting privatization. Conservatives were more likely than moderates or liberals to agree that privatization reduces costs. Democrats were less likely than Independents or Republicans to agree that costs were reduced with privatization.
§ Of the three arguments in favor of privatization, the highest percentage (60 percent) of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed on quality being important. Republicans/Conservatives were more likely to agree with the idea that privatization resulted in higher-quality service.
§ Closely behind quality, 59 percent of the respondents strongly or somewhat agreed on responsiveness as a reason for supporting privatization. This perceived benefit was the strongest argument for privatization among liberals. Republicans/Conservatives were more likely than others to agree that privatization improved responsiveness to citizens.
§ Fifty-two percent of respondents view the deregulation of natural gas provision in Georgia as somewhat negative (25 percent) or entirely negative (27 percent). On the other hand, slight majorities believe that the deregulation efforts in the financial, telecommunications, and airline industries had a positive impact.
§ A plurality of Georgians (46 percent) feel they have been unaffected by past deregulation policies. Of those who feel they were affected, most felt they were hurt by deregulation (32 percent) as opposed to helped (17 percent).
These data are taken from a Peach State Poll conducted between March 15 and March 19, 2002. The poll included 801 telephone interviews of randomly selected adults in Georgia. For a sample of this size, the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/- 3.5 percent.
