An online survey on the demands of the “Against Dictatorship” protest, conducted on 14 April 2017 on a convenience sample of 162 respondents, shows strong legitimacy for the protest among those who answered the questionnaire: as many as 84.66% say they support the protest (31.29% both support and participate; 53.37% support but do not participate). A negative attitude toward the protest is recorded among 14.11% of respondents (with only 1.23% willing to engage in counter-protests). In other words, within this sample the protest is seen as socially justified, but not necessarily as mass “operational” mobilisation.
The most interesting finding is the structure of support for specific demands: almost all anti-corruption and media-related demands receive high levels of approval, but socio-economic demands generate even stronger “engagement energy.” Thus, an independent review of the regularity of the elections is supported by 89.57% (55.21% with declared willingness to actively engage), while criminal accountability for irregularities during the campaign and on election day is supported by over 95% (with roughly 56–57% “active” support). Demands directed at public broadcasters and media editors are also highly ranked: the dismissal of responsible editors at RTS is supported by 87.12%, at RTV by 84.67%, while strict sanctioning of editors who violate the law and the Journalists’ Code of Ethics exceeds 96% total support.
However, once the survey moves to everyday “life issues,” the protest gains a broader social dimension: protection of living standards is supported by 93.25% (66.87% with willingness to engage), protection of workers’ status by 93.86% (65.64% active), publicly accessible healthcare by 93.87% (64.42% active), and education by 93.86% (63.80% active). These figures suggest that, in respondents’ perceptions, the protest went beyond the framework of “electoral theft” and media bias: it is expected to become a platform for social security, labour rights, and public services.
The sample is age-concentrated in working-age groups (26–35: 26.38%; 36–45: 21.47%; 46–55: 16.56%). By employment status, respondents are most often employed in the private sector (28.83%) or unemployed for more than six months (18.40%), with a notable share from the public sector (15.34%) and from education (11.66%). Voting choices also indicate a protest-leaning profile: the largest share voted for Saša Janković (44.79%), while 6.75% voted for Aleksandar Vučić, and 8.59% did not vote.
Methodological note: This is a self-selected online survey (participants opt in), so results are not representative of Serbia’s population.