Habilidades de control de los pensamientos

The formation of public opinion and public policies involves a mixture of complex, overlapping internal and external factors. It is therefore a problematic question whether public opinion affects government policies more than government policies affect public opinion, or vice versa. However, officials who were appointed or achieved their

positions through familial or other succession would not necessarily feel the need to

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please the public, compared to elected officials who usually listen to their constituents. There are various levels of interaction among the people, the media, and public policies. Domestic public opinion usually, though not necessarily, plays an influential role in formulating policies, particularly policies connected with social norms and values. Alternatively, various forms of influence affect public attitudes towards social and political issues, including human rights. Unlike the traditionally state-control media, modem forms of media and communication technologies, such as the Internet and satellite television, have been playing a new role in shaping public opinion in Saudi Arabia, as well as in other parts o f the world.

In addition to international factors, public opinion in Saudi Arabia is shaped by diverse domestic influences, including governmental policies, education, different types of media and influential groups such as the ulama, intellectuals, heads of leading families, and tribal leaders. Given the nature of the Saudi political system, officials typically utilize all available means in attempting to influence public opinion. Simultaneously, public policies in the Kingdom are formulated on the basis o f various factors including public opinion. Accordingly, there is an interaction between public opinion and public policies, and surveys provide an essential mechanism for measuring and analyzing public opinion and providing a better understanding o f the reciprocal relationship between the two.

Media coverage of public opinion about various political and social issues is uncommon in Saudi Arabia, and the rarely conducted surveys go largely unreported. Nevertheless, there have been particular academic studies in which Saudi public opinion on some social issues was reported and examined. 108

In Saudi Arabia, the Internet has become an increasing contributor in the formulation of public opinion, as critical and sensitive political and social, local or international, news first appears on Internet news forums. 109 Public access to the Internet

has allowed people to be more aware o f the outside world and to be able to read, write and interact with critical perspectives of their society and their government. Encouraged by the anonymous nature o f the Internet and the ease o f overriding blocking mechanisms imposed by the government, the Saudi public is able to express, more freely, its opinion about social and political issues. The outlet of expression provided by the Internet has the potential to influence people’s attitudes about various issues, including human and women’s rights. 110 Therefore, it has been commonly argued that Internet bulletin boards

and forums (montadayat) have been greatly influencing public opinion in Saudi Arabia and becoming an increasing source of news and commentaries.111 A recent study on the impact of the Internet on Saudi female attitudes indicates that the Internet has influenced those females who participated in the study in several ways, essentially by stimulating their critical thinking and changing their previous perceptions. For instance, the Internet has contributed to changing their views on the superiority of the Saudi culture and encouraged them to become rebellious against some cultural and religious values such as studying abroad without mahram (guardian). As the Internet provides an encouraging element for critical thinking, there is considerable potential for perspective transformation and changes in public opinion about various issues, including human rights. As noted

in chapter seven, recent surveys found a notable rise in the ranking o f women’s rights among issues facing Saudi Arabia.114

Individuals with higher education qualifications typically play a more influential roie in shaping public opinion, given their leading positions in political and social lives in most societies. In a country like Saudi Arabia, holders o f educational qualifications from Western universities usually have better opportunities to influence public opinion. Highly educated persons are typically active in promoting new trends that may challenge established social norms or political orientations. In the Kingdom, the majority of government officials and leaders of public opinion either hold postgraduate degrees or have studied abroad or both in most cases. In looking at the educational qualifications of most influential figures, one notes that many of them have postgraduate degrees obtained from Western universities, particularly journalists, university professors, Majlis Al-

Shura's members, and high-ranking public servants.

One of the most important issues related to the role of public opinion is its potential to make an effective contribution to the formulation of human rights policies. Norms o f human rights involve not only social values observable by individuals but also those measures enshrined in official rules. The formulation of public policies that lay down standards for human rights is usually influenced by various, complex, and interrelated internal and external considerations of which public opinion is only one. For instance, the decision to outlaw slavery in Saudi Arabia in the early 1960s was largely based on external considerations, rather than on domestic public opinion against such practice.115 A contrary example is the maintenance o f the religiously-based laws of corporal punishments, which are presumably supported by widespread public opinion,

despite some lessening in their application.116 Therefore, it is risky to generalize about the role of public opinion in relation to human rights as a whole.

People’s awareness o f the need to promote human rights is a factor that may strengthen the effect o f public opinion in the process o f human rights policy-making. However, despite some progress, the Saudi public has a limited awareness and knowledge about human rights, as internationally promoted, and the complexities surrounding domestic and international factors that may stimulate changes in human rights. This assumption is supported by the survey conducted for this thesis (discussed below), in which Saudis were asked about various issues related to human and women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, including factors affecting the recent trends in the provision of rights and in the role o f women.