Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

Harper and Merkel Admired Around the World

December 01, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Stephen Harper and Angela Merkel are among the most admired current heads of government, according to a nine-country poll conducted by Angus Reid Strategies for Maclean’s. On a scale of one to 10, respondents rated the Canadian prime minister and the German chancellor at 5.9 points and 5.7 points respectively.

Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda was third on the list with 5.4 points, followed by Russian president Vladimir Putin with 5.3 points, French president Nicolas Sarkozy with 5.1 points, and British prime minister Gordon Brown with 5.0 points.

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf ranked below the 5.0 point threshold.

The three lowest ranked politicians were United States president George W. Bush with 3.8 points, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also with 3.8 points, and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with 3.3 points.

Russians gave the highest score of the entire survey—8.0 points—to their own head of state. Conversely, the lowest numbers came for Ahmadinejad in Israel with 1.4 points, Bush in Turkey with 1.6 points, and Kim in Canada with 1.8 points.

On Nov. 27, during the Annapolis Conference for peace in the Middle East, Bush discussed his country’s role, saying, "We reaffirm the path to peace set out in the road map. Yet in the end, the outcome of the negotiations they launch here depends on the Israelis and Palestinians themselves. America will do everything in our power to support their quest for peace, but we cannot achieve it for them. The success of these efforts will require that all parties show patience and flexibility—and meet their responsibilities."

Polling Data

How much you admire each of the following world leaders?

 

All

CAN

USA

BRI

ITA

RUS

IND

ISR

TUR

CHI

Stephen Harper

5.9

5.0

5.9

5.0

6.4

6.2

6.2

5.2

6.3

6.0

Angela Merkel

5.7

5.1

5.7

4.6

6.7

6.5

6.0

5.5

3.8

6.2

Yasuo Fukuda

5.4

4.6

5.2

4.2

5.2

6.2

5.8

4.5

7.5

4.4

Vladimir Putin

5.3

3.5

4.2

3.2

3.9

8.0

6.3

3.3

6.0

7.1

Nicolas Sarkozy

5.1

4.5

5.0

4.0

6.4

5.0

6.0

5.3

2.4

6.0

Gordon Brown

5.0

4.7

5.6

4.5

5.5

4.7

5.3

4.7

4.0

5.3

Romano Prodi

4.9

4.3

5.1

3.9

3.7

5.8

5.7

4.7

4.8

5.8

Hugo Chávez

4.7

3.4

3.7

3.6

4.4

5.5

5.0

2.8

6.2

5.6

Ehud Olmert

4.5

3.7

4.4

3.5

4.9

4.7

5.6

4.1

3.0

5.3

Pervez Musharraf

4.2

3.2

4.0

3.2

4.3

3.9

3.5

3.2

5.4

5.5

George W. Bush

3.8

2.4

3.3

2.9

4.0

2.8

4.8

5.6

1.6

5.1

Kim Jong Il

3.8

1.8

2.4

2.2

3.5

4.7

4.5

2.3

4.6

5.4

Mahmoud Ahma-
dinejad

3.3

2.0

2.5

2.4

2.9

3.8

3.8

1.4

4.5

5.4

Source: Angus Reid Strategies / Maclean’s
Methodology: Online interviews with 400 adults in each of these countries: Britain, China, India, Israel, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and the United States; and 1,005 adults in Canada, conducted from Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent for Canada, and 4 per cent for all other countries.

 


Complete Poll (PDF)

Archive Search

Over 19,600 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.


Advanced Search