Anyway, back to the topic of this thread, I have a point to make about Bananiot's last post...
Bananiot wrote:I am glad we agree on this one Alexandros. Of course I knew all along that you are inspired by moderation, pragmatism and a down to earth approach to our problem. These qualities and some others are obvious in all your contributions.
Regarding your surveys I would like to express my opinion (I should have done this long time ago) and to comment you for your sincere efforts to help out. However I am very much aware of something which I think I should share with you and the rest of the forum members. The opinion of the masses, which you are trying hard to tap, is heavily influenced by what our respective party leaders say. Unfortunately this is a Cypriot phenomenon which I am not proud about. Hence, the opinions you register one day may stand head down the next day. The influence of party leaders is phenomenal and this may make mockery of the most scientific survey. Of course I am not trying to discourage you but I feel I should let you have these thoughts. However, you are probably well aware of this factor but how does one bring it into the general equation?
Bananiot re, do you really think the party leaders have such a sway over public opinion? In most modern democracies the relationship between parties and public is a dialectical one, i.e. both lead and both follow. Are you saying that in the case of Cyprus, politics remains in a proto-form and the personalities and promulgations of party leaders act in large part to forge opinion as opposed to the other way around. I'd be interested to hear your perspective on that. It would also be useful for my thesis to discuss that