Trust in Government Parliament Political parties Lower level of education 17- 28 15- 21 12- 37 Higher level of education 27- 29 27- 31 22- 29 Average 21.6 25.6 19.9 Active 20- 32 26- 33 22- 36 Not active 18 14 13 Table 2. Factors that influence the level of trust in the political institutions(in percentages) conclusion regarding the attitudes of young people finds strong support in our case: research shows that the majority of youth in Macedonia(64.2%) do not have any organizational participation, either in the sphere of politics, sports, economics or anything else. It is obvious that such a passive lifestyle creates a sense of alienation and hostility towards the public institutions. But, young people in Macedonia are also subject to the influence of the dominant political culture and common public perceptions. Table 3 contains scores from the research of the youth(YAS) along with the scores from the Early Warning Report, published in March 2006. Great deviations among the youth from the trust levels of the general public towards the given institutions are almost not present. The lowest level of trust is in the public institutions of the system, but while trust among the general public is between 22 and 35%, it is lower among the youth – from 20 to 25%. Trust in the police and the army is comparatively higher than in the public institutions. However, the trust in them is lower among the youth in Macedonia than among the general public, and the same is true regarding the religious institutions. These three differences suggest three conclusions(respectively): 1. Young people in the Republic of Macedonia are passive regarding public happenings; 2. They are less militant and authoritarian than the general public; 3. They are more secular than the general public and do not attach a great importance to religion. If we consider the fact that young people have the greatest trust in banks, it could be concluded that they are oriented towards solving and overcoming their everyday problems, predominantly economic ones, and that they are less interested in politics and religion. Bearing in mind that for 44% of them the greatest problem is unemployment, their greater concern for personal practical problems is understandable. However, other influential factors should be taken into consideration regarding the attitudes towards public institutions, such as the ethnicity of the respondents. There are significant differences in this regard concerning levels of trust in the police, army and the religious institutions. Table 4 Macedonians have greater trust in the police and the army, while Albanians have greater trust in the religious institutions. This demonstrates that ethnicity is also a factor that affects the attitudes of the youth in relation to their trust in some of the institutions. Aside from the aforementioned institutions, there is also a difference in attitudes with regard to the international institutions. 80 to 85% of the Albanians have confidence in the EU, NATO and the UN, while the trust level among Macedonians is between 40 and 50%. As other research has shown, such attitudes are directly caused by differing perceptions of the Ohrid Agreement's model of interethnic relations and the role of various institutions in that process. 12 However, it should be emphasized that besides its different ethnic attitudes, the youth has a relatively high trust in international institutions, as more than half of the respondents trust in all institutions. This tendency towards greater trust in EU institutions than in domestic institutions is also found among surveys of youth in the eight EU member countries. Aside from those security, religious, and international institutions that had a role in the crisis of 2001 and its aftermath, ethnicity does not play a great role in the attitudes of the young people regarding the other institutions. Attitudes about interethnic relations will have their place in this analysis, but for a moment we should examine the perceptions of the youth regarding the influence of institutions in solving the problems young Trust in YAS-June 2006 EWR- March 2006 Government 21.6 25.2 President 25.6 35.9 Parliament 20 22.4 Judiciary 24.1 25.4 Army 57 65.8 Police 48 57 Banks 60.6 48.7 Local Government 37.8 42.4 Religious institutions 45.2 72.1 Table 3. Comparison of the perceptions of the youth with the perceptions of the general public(in percentages) _____________________________________________________________ 12 Taleski, Dane. Images of Macedonia: Model of inter-ethnic relations and public perceptions, Paper delivered at the Nation States and Xenophobias: In the ruins in ex­Yugoslavia conference, Piran 13-14 May 2005 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 15