Slovene public opinion about security issues: A coincidence or a consistent pattern?

Abstract

Some key questions on rationality (responsiveness), consistency, stability and reliability of public opinion have been raised in scientific literature and in professional and lay public in recent years. The authors reply to these questions on the basis of secondary analysis of public opinion results obtained in surveys carried out in Slovenia from 1991 to 2007, examining the following group of variables: perception of threats, membership of Slovenia in NATO, the role of armed forces in contemporary society and their functions and trust into Slovene Army, the way of its manning and operating costs. The authors found that the Slovene public supported crucial projects of the state in the security field (NATO membership, transformation from conscript army into All-Volunteer Force, collaboration in peace operations); however, it did not always follow the opinion of the political elite. Nor did the public follow its own general value orientation while supporting those projects. The data revealed that public opinion about security issues has been relatively rational, consistent and stable in the examined period of time whereas greater changes of attitudes have been most often related to the changed circumstances and availability of new information.

Citation

Malešič, M. and Vegič, V. (2009), "Slovene public opinion about security issues: A coincidence or a consistent pattern?", Caforio, G. (Ed.) Advances in Military Sociology: Essays in Honor of Charles C. Moskos (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 12 Part 2), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1572-8323(2009)000012B008