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Final Report AE 2013 LOPEZM01

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Final Report AE 2013 LOPEZM01

  1. 1. 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
  2. 2. 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
  3. 3. 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.
  4. 4. 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
  5. 5. 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.
  6. 6. 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
  7. 7. 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.
  8. 8. 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.
  9. 9. 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.
  10. 10. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 10 Pie Chart 1 Pie Chart 2
  11. 11. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 11 Pie Chart 3 Pie Chart 4
  12. 12. 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
  13. 13. 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
  14. 14. 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
  15. 15. 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.
  16. 16. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 16 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.
  17. 17. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 17 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/>.
  18. 18. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 18 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>.
  19. 19. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 19 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>.
  20. 20. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 20 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
  21. 21. 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
  22. 22. 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
  23. 23. 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
  24. 24. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 24 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
  25. 25. The University of Queensland Foundation Year AEs.1 Sebastian Lopez 25 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%
  26. 26. 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%
  27. 27. 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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