Sociological Research

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Georgia: Persistent Paternalism

TAMARA ZURABISHVILI & TINATIN ZURABISHVILI

To cite this article: TAMARA ZURABISHVILI & TINATIN ZURABISHVILI (2004)

Georgia: Persistent Paternalism, Sociological Research, 43:6, 87-97, DOI:
10.1080/10610154.2004.11068612

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10610154.2004.11068612

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 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 87

Sociological Research, vol. 43, no. 6, November–December 2004, pp. 87–97.

© 2004 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.
ISSN 1061-0154/2004 $9.50 + 0.00.

TAMARA ZURABISHVILI AND TINATIN ZURABISHVILI

Georgia: Persistent Paternalism

Today, more than ten years after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Georgia is not able to boast of any significant progress in the
economy, or the quality of life, or the development of the system
of social security. The following are characteristic of the country:
a low level of development of industry and, as a result, an ex-
tremely high percentage of unemployment; huge foreign debt;
dependency on imported sources of energy; and widespread cor-
ruption. Only to a very small degree can the country’s present-day
problems be linked to the ethnic conflicts that paralyzed its
economy in the early 1990s.
As in the case of the majority of the other post–Soviet repub-
lics, there are substantial differences in Georgia between the state
of affairs in the capital city and out in the regions: economic activ-
ity is disproportionately concentrated in Tbilisi, while the regions
are in a position of relative deprivation.
According to numerous expert appraisals, and corroborated by
the local mass media, the population of Georgia is in an extremely
difficult situation. It suffers from serious economic problems, as
well as hardships that disrupt everyday life, such as constant elec-

English translation © 2004 M.E. Sharpe, Inc., from the Russian text © 2003 the
Russian Center for Public Opinion Research (VTsIOM), the Interdisciplinary
Academic Center for the Social Sciences (InterCenter), and the Academy of the
National Economy (ANE). “Gruziia: nepreodolennyi paternalizm,” Monitoring
obshchestvennogo mneniia: Ekonomicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny, 2003,
no. 4, pp. 39–43. A publication of VTsIOM, InterCenter, and ANE.

87
88 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

tricity and gas outages and disrupted water supply. In spite of the
predominance of such appraisals, over the past ten years in Geor-
gia there have be very few focused studies of the social condition
of the population, especially in the regions.
In designing this study,1 we were concerned most of all to ob-
tain reliable information about whether the predominant mood of
the population really is helplessness and hopelessness. In addi-
tion, our questionnaire included a number of items from a VTsIOM
Monitoring that made it possible to study the population’s assess-
ment of the changes that have taken place in the country over the
last ten years. Finally, it was of special concern to us to trace the
character of relations between the state and its citizens, what ex-
pectations are linked to the state, and how reasonable it is to speak
of the prospects of the formation of a civil society in Georgia.

The past, the present, and the future: Optimism in

spite of everything

The data that we obtained confirmed that in spite of the changes

over the past ten years, which have had a negative impact on the
condition of the population, 50 percent of the respondents state
that they have already adapted to the new way of life, and another
15 percent state that they will do so in the near future. A fairly
large percentage of respondents, however (32 percent), say that
they never will be able to adapt.
As can be seen in the data in Table 1, the age of the respondents
is a basic factor that determines their ability to adapt to the new
way of life. As was to be expected, a large percentage of young
people have adapted to the changes much more easily than the
older generation has; some have had no difficulty in doing so.
This does not mean that the respondents see their lives as being
“normal” or that they are satisfied with their lives. In 2002, 42
percent said that “it is just not possible to put up with our wretched
condition any longer.” In 2003, however, their number had fallen
to 27 percent (this is one of the most solid changes that we found;
in the rest of the cases in the two surveys, the findings were largely
similar). In spite of this change, respondents’ assessment of the
 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 89

Table 1

Have You and Your Family Adapted to the Changes That Have Taken
Place in Georgia Since 1991? (% of respondents in each age group;
2003; not counting those who found it difficult to answer)

Will adapt in Never will be

Age group Have adapted the near future able to adapt

18 to 25 63 12 17
26 to 35 52 16 30
36 to 45 49 21 28
46 to 55 49 13 33
56 to 65 32 — 60
66 and older 28 — 51

Total 47 15 32

Table 2

Which of the Statements Presented Below Most Resembles the

Situation That Has Taken Shape in the Country? (% of respondents in
each age group, 2003, not counting those who found it difficult to answer)

Georgia Russia (average Russia

(Telavskii Raion) for country) (small towns)

Answer option 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003

Things are not all that

bad, one can get by 9 22 18 16 18 13
Life is hard, but one can
survive 49 50 54 56 56 60
It is no longer possible
to put up with our
wretched condition 42 27 22 23 22 24

situation in Georgia’s Telavskii Raion looks a great deal worse

than in Russia as a whole, including the small towns of the Rus-
sian Federation.2 The data shown in Table 2 make it possible to
compare the opinions of the population of Russia and Georgia in
this regard.
For the third year now,3 the most urgent problems listed by the
inhabitants of Telavskii Raion include unemployment; the eco-
90 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

nomic crisis; and long delays in the payment of wages, salaries,

and pensions (see Figure 1).
From the point of view of the population, the problems that
need to be solved in the near future are those that have to do with
the energy crisis and the late payment of wages, salaries, and pen-
sions—artificial problems. On the other hand, the respondents do
not assume that problems such as corruption, narcotics abuse, and
unemployment will be solved any time soon.
As already mentioned, there is an extremely widespread view
in Georgia according to which life today is defined primarily by
the population’s difficult material condition. If we are to believe
the sincerity of our respondents, in April 2003 the monthly in-
come of 45 percent of the families surveyed (families of respon-
dents averaged 4.3 people) did not exceed 100 lari (about $47),
and in only 13 percent of the cases was it higher than 300 lari
($140). As anticipated, most respondents said that they spent more
than half of their income on food, and very often the figure ran as
high as 80 percent.
In the respondents’ opinion, retired people, the handicapped,
and the unemployed are in the worst situation, while entrepreneurs
and members of structures of authority are the most well off.
However, the respondents’ assessments of the state of affairs in
their own families paint a somewhat different picture. Surveys in
Telavskii Raion confirmed a tendency that is familiar from VTsIOM
studies, according to which the population is inclined to give a
better rating of their own family’s material condition than that of
the inhabitants of the raion and, especially, the country, see Table 3.
In any case, however, an assessment of material condition as
being “poor” and “very poor” exceeds positive assessments of it,
although there is an obvious striving for averaging out, especially
noticeable in the assessment of the condition of one’s own family.
In the respondents’ answers to the question as to which rung on
a hypothetical “ladder” reflecting social position they would place
themselves on, a tendency toward averaging was clear. We asked
them to rate their own condition at the present time, in 1990 (prior
to the beginning of the reforms), and their presumed condition ten
years from now (see Figure 2).
Figure 1. Which of the problems facing the population of Kakhetia is the most serious? (% of respondents in the
relevant year).

%
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Unemployment The Delayed The industrial Corruption Narcotics Pankisi Gorge The energy The crime The ecology
economic payment of crisis abuse crisis situation situation
crisis salaries, wages,
and pensions

2001 2002 2003

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 91
92 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Table 3

How Would You Rate the Material Condition? (% of respondents, 2003)

Of inhabitants Of inhabitants
Answer option Of your family of Telavskii Raion of Georgia

Very good 1 0 1
Good 11 5 6
Average 57 50 39
Poor 22 32 35
Very poor 9 8 16

%
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1990
The present time
In ten years

Figure 2. What rung are you on now? Where were you in 1990? Where
will you be in ten years? (% of respondents; 2003).

In assessing their present position, most respondents named

rungs below the middle. The average indicator was 4.12. Accord-
ing to the assessments, in 1990 they had occupied higher rungs
(with an average figure of 7.10), although the spread in responses
is more substantial (the coefficient of asymmetry equals 0.770). A
certain category of respondents (in particular, older people) found
it difficult to predict what their position on the social ladder would
 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 93

%
70

60

50

40
30

20

10
0
Will get Nothing will Will get I find it
better change worse difficult to
answer
In a year In ten years

Figure 3. Will the situation get better, get worse, or not change? (% of
respondents; 2003).

be in ten years. Very often, however, members of the other age

groups also had a hard time choosing an answer to this question,
and the respondents who were the most pessimistic, predicting
that their position would get even worse, named the “zero” rung,
which was not represented on our scale. These difficulties are also
attested by the coefficient of asymmetry, which in this case stood
at 0.721. In the answer to this question as well, what we see is a
leaning toward higher rungs (average value is 6.86), and 21 per-
cent of the respondents, mostly young people, say that in ten years
they will be on the top rung, the tenth. By way of comparison, in
the case of assessments of the situation thirteen years prior, only
11 percent named the highest rung.
The fact that a belief in future prosperity is quite strong among
the population of Telavskii Raion is also attested by their answers
to direct questions having to do with respondents’ hopes for the
future. In spite of the fact that 64 percent of respondents say that
the situation in the country “is not going to change in the coming
year,” and only 16 percent believe that the situation is going to get
better, 66 percent voiced the hope that life in Georgia would get
better “in ten years” (see Figure 3).
Despite the fact that the social and economic situation of inhab-
94 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

itants of Telavskii Raion at present, in the opinion of respondents,

is not satisfactory, the population nourishes the hope that every-
thing can still change for the better. It is true that these hopes, in
particular this faith in the future, are characteristic primarily of
young people, while they are less characteristic of the other social
and demographic groups. Nonetheless, it seems necessary to carry
out further studies in order to find out the extent to which these
hopes rest on any kind of realistic foundation.
The main conclusion that we can draw is that the assessments
of the situation are by no means as hopeless as might have been
expected. They are a great deal more positive than we had as-
sumed before starting the survey. This optimism of the young serves
as a modal mood, and it is shared in all of the age groups. It is not
easy, however, to say that such optimism has any kind of realistic
foundation in the lives of the population of Telavskii Raion; what
we have here, rather, is people’s wishes rather than prospects.

The individual and the state

The paternalism that was inherent not only to the Soviet era but
also to earlier stages of history of the country persists firmly in
Georgia. This is often viewed as one of the bases of people’s resis-
tance toward democracy and the institutions of a civil society.4
The biggest influence on the lives of the population, in the opinion
of respondents, is exerted by the bodies of ruling authority, the
government, the parliament, and bodies of local government (22
percent, 16 percent, and 15 percent, respectively).
Such an exaggerated notion of the level of influence of the bod-
ies of ruling authority leads to a paralysis of civic life. The popu-
lation delegates to the state the job of solving all urgent problems,
and seeing the state’s inability or lack of desire to solve the prob-
lems, they burst out with embittered and implacable criticism
against the state, considering it to be the source of all their misfor-
tunes. It is the government and, as the respondents very often
specify, President E[duard] Shevardnadze personally, who is to be
blame for the spread of corruption in the country, tension in the
Pankisi Gorge, and the lack of protection for the country’s natural
 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 95

Table 4

Who Is It Most of All That Should Fight for Human Rights? (% of

respondents in each age group; 2003)

Other
Appropriate (the mass
government media, I find it
Population, structures, nongovernment difficult
Age group citizens The state the president organizations) to answer

25 or below 25 28 28 15 4
26 to 35 27 37 22 7 7
36 to 45 17 52 22 7 2
46 to 55 18 40 21 20 1
56 to 65 23 45 27 5 —
66 and older 3 49 37 11 —
Total 20 41 25 11 3

resources. At the same time, however, people are 2.5 times more
likely to expect the government specifically, and in particular the
president, to defend their rights and freedoms, rather than any other
institutions of a civil society; very often they do not see any possi-
bility of themselves taking part in and bearing responsibility for
these things. The most independent portion of the population are
the young people, although even among them the percentage of
those who delegate to the state the job of protecting their rights
exceeds by more than twice the percentage of those who rely only
on their own powers in this regard (see Table 4). On the average
this ratio in the sample stands at 3.3 : 1; among the oldest respon-
dents the ratio is almost 29 : 1.
Among the population there is a very low level of knowledge-
ability about the rights of the individual; there is a very high per-
centage of respondents who had a hard time answering the relevant
questions. The respondents were unable to name not only the or-
ganizations that fight for human rights, which is an indication of
their lack of knowledge of the mechanisms necessary to defend
their rights, but also the actual rights that they do possess and, in
particular, the rights that they consider to be the most important to
themselves. The rights mentioned the most often were the rights
96 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

to life, freedom, and security, named by not more than one-third

of the respondents. The right that came second in frequency, namely
freedom of speech, was named by only 16 percent. Next in fre-
quency were the right to work and reasonable pay (12 percent)
and the right to lawfulness and equal rights (11 percent). The rest
of the rights were named by fewer than 5 percent of the respon-
dents, in spite of the fact that in the past few years discussions of
human rights and cases where these rights were violated have been
quite actively conducted by the mass media in Georgia.
These data make it possible to conclude that in the past ten
years the character of relations between society and the state in
Georgia has gone through very insignificant changes.
Despite the country’s proclaimed orientation toward the build-
ing of democracy and the development of the institutions and
structures of a civil society, in Georgia, especially out in the re-
gions, there is a persistent and self-reproducing, strictly hier-
archicalized vertical of power to which the population easily
submits and which, taking advantage of the people’s passivity, in
particular when it comes to elections, reproduces itself quite suc-
cessfully. Very often in practice we can observe examples of what
is essentially a kind of medieval clientilism, especially when it
comes to any attempt to distribute skimpy entrepreneurial re-
sources, and moreover relations that are essentially feudal in
nature between the “patrons” in the structures of ruling authority
and their “clients” are actually given priority over proclaimed
“democratic” laws and norms.
It comes as no surprise to find that the predominance of such
relations fosters the development of corruption, which reproduces
itself from one generation to the next. The reason for the spread of
corruption in the country, in the opinion of the population, is the
difficult economic situation and the low wages and salaries earned
by officials. If we go by the assessments of the respondents, the
corruption has a certain legitimacy in the eyes of the population of
today’s Georgia; it is very rare to encounter anyone whose view is
that the causes of corruption are to be sought not in external fac-
tors such as wages and salaries, and neediness. Rather, the causes
are to be sought in deeper factors, in the style of thinking and the
 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004 97

system of relations between the state and the citizen, in which

one’s personal well-being is viewed as the highest good, while
any ideas about the social good and social goals are often lacking.

Notes

1. The first phase of this survey was carried out in April of 2002; the second
was carried out in April 2003 by the Center for Sociological Research at Telavi
State University. The number of respondents who were surveyed was 332 and
359, respectively, representing the urban and rural population of Telavskii Raion.
The results were weighted according to sex.
2. The data for Russia were taken for March 2002 (Monitoring
obshchestvennogo mneniia: Ekonomicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny, 2002, no.
3) and May 2003.
3. In 2001 a survey was carried out in the city of Telavi that was smaller in its
coverage (N = 153 respondents). In contrast to the surveys of 2002 and 2003,
when the corresponding question was given in open form, in 2001 the respon-
dents were given a card with possible answer options.
4. See M. Chitashvili. “Social Changes and Values: Internal Resistance to
Democracy” [Sotsial’nye izmeneniia i tsennosti: Vnutreniaia rezistentnost’
demokratii], in Processes of Post-Soviet Transformation in Georgia [Protsessy
postsovetskoi transformatsii v Gruzii] (Telavi: SER, 2002) (in Georgian).

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