The Office of the Sôgmô has announced the results of its opinion poll today after a week of gathering opinions.
22 people took part in the poll. Of those, five were disqualified from the opinion-taking process because they had known Sandus for only a couple months. 17 results, therefore, were included in the making of averages for 7 questions and collecting of describing adjectives. Opinions asked for questions 1-7 were asked to be ranked on a scale from 0-6.
Adjectives:
Of those 17 respondents, Sandus was positively seen by them for “promoting equality;” being “academic,” “active,” “cultural,” “queer,” “involved,” “open,” “cultured,” “open-minded,” “friendly,” “[looking] nice,” “conscientious,” sophisticated,” and “passionate;” having such values as being “Classical,” pioneering “Social Justice,” and “Egalitarian.”
Sandus was negatively seen for having “restricted diplomacy;” being “opinionated,” “pretentious,” “out-moded,” “communist” twice and “socialist” once, “convoluted,” “complex,” “formative,” “obstinate,” “unproductive,” “gay,” and “zealous.”
Question 1: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of friendliness?
This question received an average opinion of 4.00. Its mode was 4. It was ranked fourth, making it the middle of the ranked opinions. In the Office’s analysis of this question, this is seen rather positively. Despite ranking fourth – in the exact middle, the average result was above the middle response of 3; furthermore, the State of Sandus makes no pretense to strive to make amicable relations with all micronations, only with those who show themselves to be true friends and allies of the State of Sandus. The result was to be expected.
Question 2: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of activity?
This question received an average opinion of 4.53. Its mode was 4.5. It was ranked second. In the Office’s analysis of this question, this is seen rather positively. The view here is that activity in Sandus has declined since the Sôgmô entered university in August 2013, as is to be expected, but sociocultural and political work has continued to some degree under the Sôgmô’s reign for the past two years. This result shows that Sandus continues to be one of the more active members of the MicroWiki community’s «Old Guard» and that, when viewed externally, Sandus remains to be more active than not.
Question 3: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of being a force for peace?
This question received an average opinion of 3.59. Its mode was 3. It was ranked sixth. In the Office’s analysis of this question, coupled with question 5, these opinions affirm the multilateral view that Sandus is, at times, an aggressive country. These views are likely affirmed by Sandum actions taken in response to worrying situations outside the State of Sandus, from Sandum policies on micronational federalism to its involvement in several very controversial diplomatic events.
Question 4: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of being a force for equality?
This question received an average opinion of 5.24. Its mode was 6. It was ranked first. In the Office’s analysis of this question, this result affirms our national aspirations. Sandus is built on a philosophy intended to treat its citizens and all peoples equally, justly, and fairly. The Sandum unbridled effort to advance such social qualities as equality and tolerance is reflected positively in this result.
Question 5: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of its diplomatic doctrine?
This question received an average opinion of 3.41. Its mode was 3. It was ranked seventh. In the Office’s analysis of this question, coupled with question 3, these opinions affirm the multilateral view that Sandus is, at times, an aggressive country. These views are likely affirmed by Sandum actions taken in response to worrying situations outside the State of Sandus, from Sandum policies on micronational federalism to its involvement in several very controversial diplomatic events.
Question 6: In your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus in terms of being a force for liberty and personal freedoms?
This question received an average opinion of 4.24. Its mode was 5.5. It was ranked third. In the Office’s analysis of this question, this is a positive result. In the war of words with other conservative micronations which ardently promote personal freedoms, Sandus is not seen as negating personal freedoms or being a state which stands politically against them. Instead, the Sandum message is more nuanced: that there exist social constraints on rights and capabilities, for which Sandus is a major proponent of social equality, but this political action works with liberty and personal freedoms in tandem.
Question 7: Finally, in your opinion, how would you rank the State of Sandus generally?
This question received an average opinion of 3.88. Its mode was 4. It was ranked fifth. In the Office’s analysis of this question, this question is far more complicated. There may be factors outside the questions asked above that might not register on this list of questions and solicited opinions: such as opinions on Sandum politics or the Sandum Philosophy. Therefore, these results are not useable by the Office of the Sôgmô, but they provide a perfect counter-weight for which the other results can be considered against.
Final Analysis:
Some of the results above are surprising (Questions 4 and 6) while others were to be expected (Questions 3 and 5). The results, however, are important to understand some of the better qualities of Sandus. When considered all together, no question received less than the 3.00 median on average. This means, in order words, that all average responses were positive — though some slightly more neutral than positive. The best result was no surprise, and it is important to understand that Sandum foreign policy could have a part to play — in addition to internal politics and ideologies — in Sandus’s overall meagre general result of 3.88 with a mode of 4. The results concerning Sandus as a force for liberty and personal freedoms are most surprising, as it means that Sandus still remains a respected nation when it comes to freedom in the micronational world — although we contend with such conservative nations as Lostisland, Sirocco, and Wyvern. The results for activity, as well, are surprising because it has been the Sandum view that activity has declined in the past two years, though this activity has remained constant and – as the results show – the decline may appear to be mostly seamless to the outside observer; furthermore, there is a possibility that the decline in activity may not be as bad as previously thought by the Central People’s Government. Finally, the descriptive adjectives are useful for understanding qualitatively what other micronationalists think of Sandus.
These results will become important in terms of Sandum planning in the realm of diplomacy and peace. The Office of the Sôgmô is considering sending out a follow-up poll specifically related to Sandus’s diplomatic policy in order to see what the intermicronational community believes to be the fault with it. These results will be useful for the coming Party Congress in November to discuss diplomatic and social affairs in the State of Sandus.
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