The size of the completed poll sample totaled 1115 respondents aged 18 and above with a margin of error of ±3%. The poll aims to track the opinion of Jordanian citizens on democratic transformation in general by assessing the level of democracy as perceived by citizens, what democracy means to Jordanians, and what type of political system Jordanians prefer. Additionally the degree to which public freedoms are guaranteed and perceived obstacles to democracy in Jordan were measured, as well as the role political parties and their respective popularity. The poll also evaluated the performance of the current parliament in drafting laws to address problems of unemployment, poverty, corruption, price hikes and guarantee of public freedoms. The specific performance of the electoral constituency MPs was measured, as well as the extent of their communication with the voters. Among the important topics addressed by the poll was the issue of priorities held by Jordanians: Are they external or internal? Political or economic? The importance of this topic arises from the fact that it has been prominent in national dialogue in Jordan in recent years. The poll also addressed visual and audio media and the extent of people's trust in it with regard to local, Arab and international political news. The major findings of the poll are presented in the following report.
I: Concept of Democracy
Most Jordanians understand democracy as closely related to civil liberties and political rights. This understanding, in essence, does not differ from the concept of democracy in advanced democratic nations. Since the poll in 1999 and up until the time of this poll, the percentage of individuals who defined democracy as civil liberties and political rights was, on average, approximately two thirds of the respondents. In addition to this political understanding of democracy, there is a sociological understanding that defines democracy in terms of justice and equality (approximately a quarter of Jordanians) and social, political and economic development (approximately 10% of Jordanians). There is a small percentage that defines democracy in terms of security and stability, as shown in Figure 1.
 Note: Respondents were able to express the three most important factors that must be available in a country in order to be classified as a democracy. The total for these percentages therefore exceeds 100% as percentages were calculated from the number of answers given by respondents
Preferred Political System
The great majority of Jordanians prefers the democratic political system, and rejects the authoritarian, undemocratic political system. 89% of the respondents stated that the "democratic political system" (public freedoms, guarantee of equality in civil and political rights, the rotation of power, and transparent accountability of the executive authority) is a good system to rule the country. This percentage was 83% in the 2005 poll, 91% in the 2004 poll and 88.8% in the 2003 poll. This support for the democratic political system was qualified by a rejection of the authoritarian political system. Approximately three quarters (71%) of respondents stated that the form of any political rule where the head of the government is authoritarian (undemocratic), and does not care about parliament and elections, is a bad form of ruling the country. This was the same percentage recorded in the 2005 poll and 2004 poll, while in 2003 this percentage was 80.9% of respondents. This information indicates that Jordanians have a clear stand about the political system they want. There is a degree of harmony in their opinions towards the level of democracy in democratic countries, countries going through a transition, and undemocratic countries, as will be seen later. 51.7% of Jordanians believe that the Jordanian political system is a democratic system (which is a close evaluation of their assessment of the level of democracy in Jordan using a different methodology as will be seen later) compared with 51% who described it this way in the 2005 poll, and 49% who described it this way in the 2004 poll. 2.3% believe that it is an authoritarian system, compared with 10.4% in 2005, and 12% in the 2004 poll. 11.2% believe it is a system where technical experts make decisions they feel appropriate for the country, compared with 12% in 2005, and 11% in the 2004 poll.
As far as the link between democracy and economic development is concerned, 53.2% of Jordanians feel that the democratic system is the best system to improve the living conditions of their families, compared to 3.1% who believe in the authoritarian system, and 16.5% who believe in the success of a system of technical experts as being the best system to improve living conditions. Additionally, Jordanians see the democratic system as the best system to solve their economic problems, with 80.5% agreeing with the statement that “the best way to solve unemployment in Jordan is to create a parliamentary government that is elected every four years.” When it comes to the problem of poverty, 80.8% of Jordanians believe the democratic system is the best system to solve this problem. This matches similar answers to the problem of administrative and financial corruption, where 79.6% of Jordanians believing that democracy is also the best solution to this problem.
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