Kazakhstanis favor national passport as key unifying element of the nation – poll

The poll covered a total of 8,000 respondents aged over 18 years old from the country's 17 regions and cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent.

According to the poll, 46.0% of the responders opted for the national passport as the main unifying symbol of the country. Coming in second is the very fact of the birth on the Kazakhstani land and having the common ancestors – 39.9%. The common language rounded out the list of top three unifying elements of the nation, as 32.0% of the respondents voted in its favor.

It’s worth to note that each fifth respondent believes that pride for the country’s accomplishments or patriotism and the shared values, norms and conduct unite the nation, accounting for 21.8% and 21.3% of the respondents’ answers, respectively (Total exceeds 100% due to multiple responses).

A whopping 63.3% of the respondents believe that obedience to the law is the key in civic expression, when being asked a question ‘What makes a citizen?’

Kazakhstanis spoke as one in choosing their key ideals: family (99.6%), work and labor (92.9%) and friends (92.4%).

66.2% and 32.5% of the respondents opted 'for' and 'against', respectively, when asked whether hard work should be rewarded or not.

The poll helped to reveal that paternalistic expectations still remain within the society, as 93.8% of the respondents think that the government needs to ensure the good standard of living for each citizen (53.8% opting ‘fully agreed’ and 40.0% - ‘agreed’).

A majority of Kazakhstanis (91.2%) believe science and technology play a key role in improving the standard of living.

62.9% of the respondents favored freedom over equality (33.8%) as their key value. However, safety outscored freedom 68.7% against 28.6%.

The poll was conducted from May 11 to June 22.