Translated material
They'll cheat you anyway
Russians perceive elections as a trip to the store
Last week, lawmakers put an end to election reform. It will take more than one election cycle for ordinary citizens to realize this fact. So far, according to a sociological study conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, Russians’ distrust of the current electoral system is high.More than half of Russians (55%) believe that the election results do not reflect the opinions of the people. And only 31% of Russians are confident that elections in Russia are being held fairly. Many citizens have no illusions about the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. 51% are confident that the elections to the State Duma in 2007 will be unfair; 44% of respondents share this opinion regarding the 2008 presidential elections. Only 23% and 41% of respondents, respectively, are confident in the future correct counting of votes.
The main problem, according to co-chairman of the National Strategy Council Joseph Diskin, is “the general attitude of the population, which does not trust all institutions of power, except the president personally.” “The first reaction is distrust of everything the authorities do,” the analyst explained to Vremya Novostei. - At the same time, Russian voters are quite pragmatic. Pensioners used to vote for the communists, but as soon as a party appeared that was ready to constantly defend increasing salaries for public sector employees, people rushed to United Russia. As long as the Union of Right Forces provided direct communication in the regions, for example with ministers, they voted for it. As soon as they declared that they had gone over to total opposition, the staunch fighters for liberalism and those who do not like Putin remained with them.”
Despite all the mistrust in the institution of elections, Russians are not ready to boycott the electoral process. 64% of respondents are going to take part in the 2007 parliamentary elections, 73% are going to take part in the 2008 elections for the head of state. This contradiction was explained to Vremya Novostey by leading FOM specialist Ivan Klimov: “Two trends overlap here. On the one hand, the public consciousness retains the idea that it is possible to influence the government. The idea that the people have a voice, even if that voice is not always listened to. There is some hope that something will change. On the other hand, elections have become a common practice, similar to going to the store. We go to a store that is close to home; it even has an insufficient range of products and suboptimal prices. But it’s close, and it’s convenient.”
According to the analyst, there has come an awareness of elections as a familiar and understandable public procedure. At the same time, among a significant portion of people, the idea that elections are a way to influence the government is constantly being tested for strength. For example, such as monetization of benefits.
“The political preferences of our people are very different. And there are always dissatisfied people,” explained Ivan Klimov. “Those who vote for communists or right-wingers more often express skepticism about the integrity of the elections. But at the same time they go to the polls.”
Since the recent “color revolutions” took place against the backdrop of parliamentary or presidential elections, the results of which were disputed by the opposition and were ultimately revised in its favor, sociologists decided to discuss this problem as well. To the question “In our country, can distortion of voting results become a catalyst for mass protests?” 42% of Russians responded positively. 39% of respondents consider this development of events unrealistic. Among the skeptics, the majority are people with relatively high incomes and higher education, as well as Muscovites. That is, the most politically active citizens.
Joseph Diskin believes that, according to the survey results, we can talk about a potential 5-6% of the population who are ready to take to the streets if violations radically change the voting results. Moreover, a major role will belong to the media. “The question is how the media, which citizens trust, will present the voting results,” Mr. Diskin noted.
According to Mr. Klimov, in reality, from 1 to 4% of people constantly participate in protests in Russia: “We can say with confidence: there are protest sentiments in society. And people believe that protests can achieve a certain result. At the same time, people do not want revolutionary changes. People understand that revolutions slow down the development of the state.” According to the sociologist, protest sentiments are a good mechanism for social integration. But the authorities should not confuse this with a revolution, so that another Bloody Sunday does not arise.