Social policies, political attitudes and ageing: Results from a survey on Greater Lisbon

Abstract

This paper considers an important aspect for the assessment of public policies in Portugal, namely the opinions of laypersons or population in general, and particularly the ones regarding social policies. Such opinions, even though different from the ones of experts, must be dully taken into consideration in any assessment of the effectiveness of public policies. The study is based on a survey performed in December 2016, regarding a sample of 600 individuals living in the Greater Lisbon, stratified by gender, education and age. Its main focus is the analysis of shifting attitudes according to age. The questions refer namely to: identification with political parties; vote in recent elections; reasons for vote and/or abstention; interest for politics; features perceived in Portuguese political agents; trust in political agents; satisfaction with the functioning of democracy in Portugal; citizens’ perceived influence in political events; relevant aspects in partisan choice; self-perception in terms of left-right dimension; preference for economic market regulation, state regulation and/or regulation by the ‘third sector’; evaluation of social policies; biases within these perceptions and preferences associated with gender, levels of income, and age.