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Name: Sebastian Lopez (LOPEZM01)
Class: Academic English Sept 1
Teacher: Tanya Noreen
Date: 23/05/2013
Happiness of people and effectiveness of the
Governments in South America
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
2
Content
Content pp.
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Methodology 6
Interpretation 8
Discussion &Conclusion 12
Recommendations 16
Reference List 17
Appendix 20
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
3
Abstract
Happiness and the effectiveness of the governments have been topics of relevant
importance in social researches. Nevertheless, the researches of whether the effectiveness of
the governments affects the happiness of the people have been focused in European and
North American countries. The purpose of this report is to investigate if the happiness of
South American people is related to their perception of the effectiveness of the government
and will aim to show that there is a relationship between those variables. This essay will
determine as well how the happiness of South American people is affected by the government
effectiveness and will answer and fulfil the need of the limited research in the relation
between government and happiness in South American people. A survey consisting of 20
questions searching the main opinions and factors was conducted to collect the data. The total
number of participants were 114, consisting of 69 females and 44 males. Related researches
confirm that historical and economical characteristics in a country will determine the level of
happiness of people. Although South American countries present the happiest countries in the
world, those levels had decreased during years. The results obtained proved that the happiness
of the people is related to their perception of the governments’ effectiveness.. Therefore, it is
recommended that governments should find the main reasons why those levels are
decreasing, and find relevant solutions to the disappointment of their perception to the
effectiveness of the governments.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
4
Introduction
Happiness is defined by Pappas (2011) as that state of a person characterized by feelings
oscillating from gratification to strong joy, and the state to intense joy will depend on
emotions and events experienced. Therefore, events and experiences around an individual
person will define, in specific moments, the level of happiness. People around the world are
always exposed to politics. In South America, debating different political views is a way of
fun and social gathering activity, because the influence of the governments in people’s daily
life is very high (Mendoza 2003). However, people in South America tend to believe that the
effect of the government on them is very low. It has been proven by a series of social
experiments that people think the governments do not contribute at all to their happiness
(Anze 2011). That belief depends entirely in the way individual persons relate to the people
in their country, as well, as the types of governments that have been presiding during years in
the group of countries (Ott 2010, pp. 3-22). Besides, Debnath and Shankar (2013, pp. 1-19)
states that the happiness of the people will be fully related with the quality of the government
and not with the size of it, and those patterns applies to all the countries around the world and
not just western countries.
Lewis (2006) states that for many years South American countries suffered harsh and
oppressive dictatorships, for example: HumbertoBranco (1964-1967), Augusto Pinochet
(1973-1990) and Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (1953- 1957), which influenced the happiness and
liberty of the people. Even though those dictators oppressed their countries; Brazil, Chile and
Colombia respectively, the damage was the same for all the countries around the South
American continent. These dictatorships gave fear, rebellion and lack of liberty to their
citizens, despite the objective of the dictators of giving security and economical balance to
the country (Cummins et al. 2009, pp. 23-36). Renjilian-Burgy, Chiquito and Mraz (2007)
confirmed that the oppression given to the citizens lower the happiness of the people, and
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
5
affected during generations the conception of liberty and rights. Headey and Wearing (1992)
and Ott (2010) found that the effectiveness of the government had an important impact on the
happiness of the people, but proved that a country with historical oppressive governments
will always have less happiness than those with democratic governments.
On the other hand, South American people are characterized for being happy people
because of the personality and jokes to daily life situations. However, the levels of happiness
in some South American countries had decreased in the past decades. According to
Veenhoven (1993), the level of happiness in South American countries, such as Argentina
and Venezuela has decreased during the past decades because of the government’s actions
and current situations that the countries suffered. Veenhoven (1993) confirms that this
variation depends entirely on how the people are living in those countries, and the
possibilities to develop their life properly.
The report will investigate exactly if the happiness of South American people is related to
their perception of the effectiveness of the government. The aim of the research is to show
that there is a relationship between those variables and determine how the happiness of South
American people is affected by the government effectiveness. There has been limited
research in the relation between government and happiness in South American people, and
this report will answer and fulfil that need. Finally, the report will discuss the methodology
and survey design for the report, then the results obtained, followed by the discussion and
overall conclusions.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
6
Methodology
This research was conducted based on mainly quantitative and partly qualitative research.
The reason of this is because it will be easy to analyse the data collected in the survey from
the large amount of participants in this research. It is noteworthy, that a questionnaire was
created to investigate the main reasons and trends of the happiness of the South American
people and their perception of the effectiveness of the governments in that region. The
questionnaire had 20 questions, where 15 questions were asked to label their option from a
scale of agree and disagreement, and the other 5 where asked to choose between ‘yes’ and
‘no’.
There were 114 participants in total, consisting of 44 males and 70 females. The
participants comprise of friends, relatives, professors from universities, ambassadors, judges
and legislators, doctors, presidents of companies in South America and international
consultants of UNESCO, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations. They all possessed
high school levels of education, with exceptions of 45 Bachelors, 12 Masters, 37 PhD. The
nationality of the participants were 79 Venezuelans, 20 Ecuadorians, 3 Brazilians, 1
Argentinean, 1 Spanish living in Venezuela, 1 Chilean, 2 Bolivian, 2 Colombians, 1
American, 1 Panamanian living in Colombia, 2 Italians living in Ecuador and 1 Mexican
living in Argentina. It should be noted, that the people that is not from South America have
been living in South American countries for more than 5 years. On the other hand, the
information was kept confidential by without asking the names of the participants. Then the
data collected was analysed.
The survey was successfully conducted; however, there was a shortcoming. The question
asked which countries the participants think have oppressive governments, and we had
answers that were not the expected. The participants answered by stating countries from the
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
7
American continent and not specifically from South America. According to the data collected
only 35% of the participants answered within the expectations and guidelines. Therefore, this
problem might have slightly limited the accuracy of the results.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
8
Interpretation
The questionnaire can be divided into subsections for the purpose of correctly
analyzing the data collected. Questions 1 to 10 were questions that measure their perception
of the country, of the government and of their daily and future life in that country. According
to the data recorded it was found that:
75% of the participants thought the governments do not fulfill the need
of the citizens (Pie Chart 1).
74% of the participants think that the country can be much better with
another government controlling the country (Pie Chart 2).
On average 79% of the participants are unhappy with the economic
and political measures taken by their governments.
Only 18% of the respondents agree that the problems in their country
have diminished with the current government. 12% answered with a neutral
answer, and 71% disagree (48% strongly disagree- 23% disagree) with the
question asked (Pie Chart 3).
On the other hand, important results were obtained in the question 9
and 10. Only 30% of the participants think that the laws in their country are
sufficient, however, 91% of the participants agree that the laws in their country are
not fully respected.
Questions 11 to 15 were focused in what their participants think about the governments in
a general South American country. The results were the following:
The majority of the population agrees (41%) and strongly agrees (23%) that
the happiness of the people is linked with the effectiveness of the government.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
9
According to the bibliography it was expected that the result was different from the
one obtained (Pie Chart 4)
There is a very significant tendency that there are oppressive governments in
South America and that the freedom of speech will be linked as well with the
happiness of the people.
Overall, 75% of the participants think that democratic governments will help
people to be happier because in some cases the objective of those governments is to
fulfill the needs of the citizens and increase the levels of acceptance.
Finally, the set of questions remaining had the aim of analyzing if the participants support
and voted for the actual government, and other relevant information. The results were the
following:
According to the responses of the participants, an average of 83.5% did not
vote for the actual government in their country and do not support it.
68% of the participants confirmed that there are oppressive governments in
South America. The majority of the responses confirmed “Venezuela” to be the
country with the perfect conditions to have an oppressive government.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
12
Discussion and Conclusion
The purpose of this report is to investigate if the happiness of South American people is
related to their perception of the effectiveness of the government. The participants answered
all the questions and gave sufficient data to develop concepts and ideas helpful for the aim of
the research. In addition to this, the population that answered the questionnaire had very
strong opinions on the way the governments in their countries are controlling it. The results
from the survey showed that almost 70 % of the population did not support the government
nor do they support the measures taken by the government in the political and economic
aspects. Salomone (2008) states that the happiness of the people will be based in whether or
not they are satisfied with what they experience. On the other hand, Ott (2012) confirms that
a better government will result in more happiness in the people. As well, Ott (2012) discusses
that if a country has more democratic aspects; high levels of freedom of speech, any
discrimination to political parties and the right to people vote freely, will make the levels of
happiness to increase (more democracy-more happiness). Therefore, results can be related
with the theories established before. The participants were not satisfied with the performance
of their government, by expressing that they were not happy with the role played by their
country in international reunions, and that the laws were not fully respected, between others.
Another main trend that was evident in the results was that the levels of happiness and
satisfaction of South American people were very low. Nevertheless, South American
countries were worldwide recognized for being countries with high levels of happiness. The
Happy Planet Index (2013) searched and developed a chart with the rankings of the happier
countries around the world. It is significant to state that South American countries are in the
top 45. For example: Colombia is in third place, Venezuela in the ninth place and Argentina
in the seventeenth place (Happy Planet Index 2013). Therefore these results contradict the
overall responses of the participants because the chart and ranking are based on the situation
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
13
of the country in economy, political and environmental issues, and those aspects are directly
influenced by the government's running the country. The Happy Planet Index (2013) state
that the ranking does not measure how well is the country doing, but, the characters that they
measure: Experienced well-being, life expectancy and ecological footprint, are things that are
extremely related with the security and measures taken by the government in that country.
Therefore, if the governments are not effective, those rankings will be different and will be
lower. The reason of this contradiction is because the supporters and the staff of this Index
are not from South America, and all of them are European or from North America. In
addition to this, the numbers that they use for the ranking are not from real people living in
South America, because they do not actually ask people living in that region.
The Commission for the Study and Promotion of the Wellness in Latin America (2011)
states that in South America the objective of make people happier has been lost during the
years. The Commission for the Study and Promotion of the Wellness in American Latina
(2011) argues that presidents and chief of states are more focused on imposing their type of
government into the country rather than responding for the problems that are constantly
presented. One of the main objectives of the governments in South America should be to
make their people happier and give them the conditions to live a proper life, by giving people
freedom of speech, increasing the economic income and safety on social and political aspects
(Commission for the Study and Promotion of the Wellness in Latin America 2011). Ubeda
(2011) affirms that even though each president in South America has objectives when they
come into power, those objectives are ‘lost in track’. Ubeda (2011) also agrees with The
Commission for the Study and Promotion of the Wellness in Latin America (2011) because
they established that governments in South America are very selfish and influenced by
opinions or decisions of other politicians around the region. Those trends appeared as well in
the results obtained. The results demonstrate that people agree that the objective should be to
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
14
make people happier and the effectiveness of the government is not as good as the
government promised.
Another trend found in the results obtained, was the high percentage of people that think
that there are some countries with oppressive governments in South America. Dutt and
Radcliff (2009) confirm that there is an affinity for countries in South America to have non-
democratic governments. Bremmer (2009) and Ott (2010) argue that oppressive governments
are more likely to be in South America and in Central America because of the historic events
that those countries had. Lechin (2011) confirms that the countries that can be classified for
having an oppressive government are: Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. The participants were
asked to state which countries in South America they think had an oppressive government.
According to the responses, Venezuela, Ecuador and Argentina were the countries the
participants chose the most. However, only a very low percentage chose Bolivia, and this
might be because there is not actually an oppressive government in Bolivia, or because the
participants did not answer the question correctly. The question asked for the participants to
state which countries in South America they think had that type of government, but the
participants answered by stating countries in Central America and Europe. Therefore, this
might had influenced the results because of the confusion presented at the time of answering
the question.
This report had as a purpose to determine if there is a relation between happiness and the
effectiveness of the governments in South America. The results obtained and the theory
established before help us understand and prove the hypothesis. Ott (2012) states that if a
country has more democracy the people will be happier, but a high percentage of the
participants confirmed that there is a lack of democracy in South America, making people
unhappy about the government and daily life. Oswald (1997) confirms that the effectiveness
of a country will be measured by the good performance in economic, political and
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
15
environmental factors, and the levels of happiness of the people living in the country will be
highly related with the effectiveness of the government. The results show:
Unhappiness with the economic and political measures in South
American countries.
The Governments in that region are not as effective as they promised.
The Governments in South America are highly influenced by other
countries actions.
Therefore, it can be concluded that people are unhappy in South America because of the
main reasons stated before, and that there is a very high likelihood that the happiness of the
people in South America is affected by their perception to the governments’ effectiveness.
Even though of the problems and contradiction found, our hypothesis has been proven
correct, giving us conclusive results.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Recommendations
Since the happiness of the people is related with their perception of the government
effectiveness, it can be stated that the happiness of South American people will change and
vary according to the government effectiveness in that country and the environment in which
this person or people are surround it. Ott (2012) states that the happiness of the people in
South America, and around the world, will raise if democratic procedures and principles are
done and taken into account in a country. Governments should impose and search the
happiness of the people by being effective and ‘having as a flag’ democratic principles. The
people in South America should find a better way to communicate with their governments
and find the way in which both sides can be satisfied. Therefore, if this is done the levels of
happiness can raise and the people in South America can be more satisfied on their life and
proud of living in their countries.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Reference List
Anze, EG 2011, El legado maligno: despotismo y dictaduras en Latinoamérica, Casa de
Tharsis, viewed 23 March 2013,
<http://books.google.com.au/books?id=9Mc1MwEACAAJ&dq=dictadura+en+latinoam%C3
%A9rica&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-ZdNUZOiKLGjiAfZooGgDg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA>.
Bremmer, I 2009, The J Curve, Simon and Schuster, Buenos Aires.
Commission for the Study and Promotion of the Wellness in LatinAmerica 2011 ‘Medición,
Investigación, e Incorporación a la Política Pública del Bienestar Subjetivo: America Latina’,
thesis, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City.
Cummins, RA, Lau, AA, Mellor, D & Stokes, MA 2009, ‘Encouraging Governments to
Enhance the Happiness of Their Nation: Step 1: Understand Subjective Wellbeing’, Social
Indicators Research, vol. 91, no.1, pp. 23-36, viewed 23 March 2013,
<http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11205-008-9324-6?LI=true#page-2>.
Debnath, R & Shankar, R 2013, ‘Does Good Governance Enhance Happiness: A Cross
Nation Study’, Social Indicators Research, vol. 91, no.1, pp. 1-19, viewed 10 April 2013,
<http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11205-013-0275-1>.
Dutt , AK & Radcliff, B 2009, Happiness, Economics and Politics, Mixed Sources, London,
viewed 21 May 2013, <http://books.google.com.au/books?id=s-
YPDQIlJAYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
Happy Planet Index 2013, Explore the Data, viewed 21 May 2013,
<http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/>.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Headey, B &Wearing, A 1992, Understanding happiness: A theory of subjective well-being,
Longman Cheshire Pty Limited, Melbourne, viewed 23 March 2013,
<http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Understanding_Happiness.html?id=2bIHAgAACA
AJ&redir_esc=y>.
Lechín, J 2011. The Masks of Fascism. El Universal Ediciones, Caracas.
Lewis, P 2006, Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America, Rownan&Littlefield Publishers,
Oxford, viewed 10 April 2013, < http://books.google.com.au/books?id=LAvw-
YXm4TsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dictatorships+in+south+america&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U8
tkUauqLsXVkwW5toHoBg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=dictatorships%20in%20south%20a
merica&f=false>.
Mendoza, O 2003, ‘La situación Sudamericana: Los Objetivos de Autonomía y los Dilemas
de la Democracia’, National University of San Juan, San Juan, viewed 23 March 2013,
<http://www.cartapacio.edu.ar/ojs/index.php/rcicso/article/viewFile/974/805>.
Oswald, AJ 1997, ‘Happiness and Economic Performance’, University of Warwick, England.
Ott, J 2010, ‘Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher
Level and More Equality of Happiness’, Social Indicator Research, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 3-22,
viewed 23 March 2013,<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068254/>.
Ott, J 2012, An Eye on Happiness, Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
Pappas, S 2011, ‘Does Big Government Make People Happy’, LiveScience, 13 May, viewed
23 March 2013, <http://www.livescience.com/14156-government-size-happiness.html>.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Renjilian-Burgy, J, Chiquito, AB & Mraz, SM 2007, Caminos, Cengage Learning, viewed 23
March
2013,<http://books.google.com.au/books?id=8IfHisdHKtUC&pg=PA84&dq=personalidad+d
e+los+latinos&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pl9NUeWBB7CTiAfx8IGgCA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=
onepage&q=personalidad%20de%20los%20latinos&f=false>.
Salomone, M 2008, La ciencia descubre las claves de la felicidad, El Pais, viewed 21 May
2013,
<file:///H:/Academic%20English/Research%20Project%202013/Sources/La%20ciencia%20d
escubre%20las%20claves%20de%20la%20felicidad%20%20%20Edici%C3%B3n%20impre
sa%20%20%20EL%20PA%C3%8DS.htm>.
Ubeda, JE 2011, Sistemas Político-Constitucionales en el Mundo¸ Aebius, Madrid, viewed 21
May 2013,
<http://books.google.com.au/books?id=d3seEjWMalcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q
&f=fals>.
Veenhoven, R 1993, Happiness in Nations, World Database of Happiness, Rotterdam,
viewed 10 April 2013, <http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub1990s/93b-
part1.pdf>.
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Appendix A
Happiness of people and Effectiveness of the Governments in South America
Investigator: Sebastian Lopez – University of Queensland Foundation Year - Academic
English (AE) student
You are invited to participate in a research study that aims to investigate how the happiness
of South American people is related to their perception of effectiveness of the government.
Please read this sheet carefully and be confident that you have understood the information
prior to agreeing to participate. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact the investigator via slopezmarcano@gmail.com (email).
What is this study about?
This study is a designed to help us understand wether the happiness of the people in a South
American country is related to the effectiveness of the government. People in South America
have always been considered as happy and joyful people, but a decrease in people´s
happiness has been confirmed by several investigators. The purpose is to investigate if that
decrease is related to the effectiveness of the governments in this region and how does a bad
government affect people´s daily life.
Privacy Statement
Ethics approval for this study has been granted by the relevant staff member of the University
of Queensland Foundation Year Program (www.foundationyear.com). Completion and
submission of this questionnaire indicates informed consent. All responses are anonymous.
Should you have any concerns about ethics or your participation in the research, please feel
free to contact relevant staff member via email: noreen@fdn.uq.edu.au
Note
The researcher involved in this project is a vocational student and has had little, if any, formal
research experience. All efforts have been made to ensure legibility and clarity of questions;
however, as part of an academic learning process accuracy may not always be apparent.
Questionnaire must be filled by South American people or by people who has been living in
South America for more than 5 years.
Gender
Age
Nationality
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
21
The government in my country has fulfilled the need of the citizens
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I'm happy with the role played by my country in international reunions and conferences
United Nations, MERCOSUR, ALBA, UNASUR, ALCA etc.
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think people who support the government in my country have better resources
salaries, jobs, personal belongings etc
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think my country can be much better with another government controlling the country
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I'm happy with the economic measures taken by my government
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
22
Strongly agree
I'm happy with the political measures taken by my government
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
The problems in my country have diminished with the current government
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
The laws in my country are sufficient for the problems occurring within it
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
The laws in my country are fully respected
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think my country will be economically and politically better in a range of 2 to 4 years
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think democratic governments help people to be happier
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
23
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think the happiness of the people is linked with the effectiveness of the government
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think oppressive governments in South American countries have influenced the levels of
happiness of the people
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think that people´s happiness will be affected by a limitation in the freedom of speech
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I think that an objective of the governments might be to make people happier
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
I voted for the actual government in my country
Yes
No
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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I support the actual government in my country
Yes
No
The government in my country is as effective as it promised
Yes
No
I think some countries in South America have an oppressive government
Yes
No
If you answered "Yes", please state which country or countries
The government´s actions and objectives in my country have been influenced by other
country´s governments
Yes
No
Submit
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
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Appendix B
Questionnaire
Title: Happiness of people and Effectiveness of the Governments in South America
Investigator: Sebastian Lopez – University of Queensland Foundation Year - Academic
English (AE) student.
Summary of Responses: 114 responses
Gender Amount of People Percentage
Male 44 38.59%
Female 70 61.40%
Age Amount of People Percentage
<18 12 11%
18-28 32 28%
29-38 20 18%
39-49 12 11%
>50 37 33%
Nationality Amount of People Percentage
Venezuelan 79 69.29%
Ecuadorian 20 17.5%
Brazilian 3 2.63%
Argentinean 1 0.87%
Spanish 1 0.87%
Chilean 1 0.87%
Bolivian 2 1.75%
Colombian 2 1.75%
Italian 2 1.75%
Mexican 1 0.87%
Panama 1 0.87%
United Sates of America 1 0.87%
Questions Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree The government
in your country
has fulfilled the
need of the
citizens
31% 44% 10% 13% 3%
I'm happy with
the role played
by my country
in international
reunions and
conferences
41% 27% 9% 15% 7%
I think people
who support the 11% 19% 23% 31% 17%
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
26
government in
my country
have better
resources
I think my
country can be
much better
with another
government
controlling the
country
9% 8% 9% 26% 48%
I'm happy with
the economic
measures taken
by my
government
57% 19% 4% 14% 5%
I'm happy with
the political
measures taken
by my
government
53% 23% 7% 12% 5%
The problems in
my country
have diminished
with the current
government
48% 23% 12% 13% 5%
The laws in my
country are
sufficient for
the problems
occurring
within it
28% 29% 13% 25% 5%
The laws in my
country are
fully respected
61% 30% 5% 2% 3%
I think my
country will be
economically
and politically
better in a range
of 2 to 4 years
16% 29% 29% 21% 6%
I think
democratic
governments
help people to
be happier
2% 5% 9% 43% 41%
I think the
happiness of the
people is linked
with the
effectiveness of
the government
5% 11% 20% 41% 23%
I think
oppressive
governments in
South American
countries have
influenced the
levels of
happiness of the
9% 8% 14% 47% 22%
The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez
27
people
I think that
people´s
happiness will
be affected by a
limitation in the
freedom of
speech
3% 5% 8% 45% 40%
I think that an
objective of the
governments
might be to
make people
happier
6% 12% 16% 39% 26%
Questions Yes No I voted for the actual government
in my country 17% 83%
I support the actual government in
my country 20% 80%
The government in my country is
as effective as it promised 13% 87%
I think some countries in South
America have an oppressive
government******
68% 32%
The government´s actions and
objectives in my country have been
influenced by other country´s
governments
87% 13%
Number of Daily Responses
****** People who answered YES they needed to state which country in South America
presented an oppressive government
Countries Percentage
Venezuela 65.72%
Ecuador 26.32%
Argentina 2.63%
Paraguay 1.31%
Bolivia 1.31%
Peru 1.31%
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