Translated material
People's Court
Russians love Nesunov more than bribe takers
The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), as part of a comprehensive study of psychological attitudes and social motives of behavior of the population, decided to find out from Russians what, from their point of view, a person’s success in our country most depends on. How do people treat the person who offered a bribe, the official who agreed to take it? What does a government employee think about reporting such a transaction to law enforcement agencies? What kind of punishment does an employee who tried to take production materials from the enterprise for subsequent resale deserve?Opinions regarding which factors largely determine a person’s success in Russia differ significantly. Russians find it difficult to decide whether success in life depends on their personal qualities, abilities, talents (indicated by 36% of respondents) or whether success is a product of “disruptive abilities”, personal connections (also 36%).
Respondents of different age groups assess the influence of these two factors differently. Young people under 25 are more likely to rely on their talent and hard work to achieve personal success - 38%; representatives of the older generation (age 60+) agree with them - 42%. Conversely, representatives of the most socially and economically active part of the population (young people aged 25-34 and middle-aged respondents) usually consider “personal connections” more important for achieving success - 38-40%. To a lesser extent, according to Russians, success depends on the ability to circumvent the law (14%), and even more so, respondents are not inclined towards fatalism - no more than 11% of respondents refer to random circumstances.
In a situation where a person asked an official to speed up, for example, the processing of an inheritance due to him for a certain bribe, the official agreed, and another official reported this to law enforcement agencies, all three participants in this story evoke a rather negative reaction from the respondents. An official who is ready to accept a bribe is most condemned: the majority, 63%, of respondents note that they have a negative attitude towards such an official, 26% - neutral, 8% - positively. The person who offered a bribe evokes negative feelings in every second respondent (51%), in every third (37%) - neutral, in 9% - positive. Negative emotions also prevail regarding the official who reported the transaction to the “competent authorities”: 38% condemn his actions, 27% perceive him neutrally, 29% approve.
When an employee tries to remove production materials from an enterprise for resale and is detained at the checkpoint, only 7% of respondents believe that it is necessary to open a criminal case into theft; 20% are in favor of dismissing him from work, 31% suggest fining him, 34% consider a warning sufficient, and 5% believe that such a person does not deserve any punishment. Respondents who consider themselves well-off financially are inclined towards this type of punishment such as a fine (38%); poorly provided for - to a warning (36%).
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The all-Russian poll by VTsIOM was conducted on June 24-25, 2006. 1,600 people were surveyed in 153 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%.