Does it show that people don't support protectionism or that they do support trade? It seems like these are two different questions. If you ask if people are in favor of trade and they say "yes," but then, "Majorities in every country surveyed say that the government should take care of the very poor who cannot take care of themselves" and "Few publics favor economic growth at the expense of the environment. In 46 of 47 countries surveyed, majorities say the environment should be given priority, even if this means lower growth and fewer jobs" this is hardly saying that people aren't in favor of some sort of "protectionism" (a broad term that is bandied about whenever the interests of multinational capital are threatened). As the report says, there are contradictions here and I'd say they are more interesting than the things the report seems to "prove."
I'd also like to know, mostly for my own understanding, how they can conduct a poll like this and say they have taken a representative sample. I guess I could look at the methodology and figure it out for myself, but it seems like it would be difficult to conduct a poll like this in any way that isn't going to give more preference to the views of a cosmopolitan, upper class swath of the world population. Is it all conducted by phone or do they also send some folks into the slums of Mexico City with clipboards? I figure they must try and control for this kind of thing, but it still seems like the people who will be best represented are the ones most plugged into the global networks they are being asked about. I'm also aware that this is my first assumption quite often and, as an assumption, it is hardly enough to be evidence of the study's faults.
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