August 20, 2002
Report & Analysis · Other Poll Releases
A recent Peach State Poll finds that Georgians have little faith in the ethics of their elected officials. Only 30 percent of those interviewed rate the ethical standards of Georgia's elected officials as either very high (7 percent) or high (23 percent). As an occupation, elected officials rank higher than lawyers, auto mechanics, business executives, and journalists in terms of perceived ethical behavior. Firefighters and medical doctors rank at the top of that list.
The Peach State Poll is a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
While 69 percent of the public believes that ethics in government is a greater problem today than it was in the past, a majority who believe this (62 percent) also believe that it is seen as a greater problem today because the public is more aware of ethical violations, not because elected officials are less honest. Only 23 percent of those surveyed say that elected officials today are less honest than those of 25 years ago.
Other survey results:
* Integrity was ranked significantly higher than compassion or a strong work ethic as an important quality for public officials to possess.
* A slim majority (53 percent) believes that elected officials should be held to higher ethical standards than people in the business community.
* Georgians do not believe that their elected officials are any less ethical that those of other states. Twenty-three percent of respondents say that Georgia elected officials are more ethical than and another 57 percent say that they are as ethical as their counterparts in other states.
* There is slightly more confidence in the ethics of local officials than in state officials.
* Although 59 percent of Georgians say that people go into public office for personal gain rather than to serve the public, 82 percent of the public are optimistic that it is possible to succeed in politics and maintain ethical standards.
These data are taken from a Peach State Poll survey conducted between June 10 and June 17, 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.
