But they don’t yet consider it an effective way to solve problems

The number of citizens who would like to participate in political activities is growing, Levada Center has found out. This means that “those who fell asleep by the end of the 2000s began to wake up,” sociologists say. True, citizens who are interested in participating in politics are still a minority, and Russians consider public initiatives and protests to be the most ineffective ways to solve their own problems.

As sociologists found, a total of 14% of respondents believe that Russian society controls the actions of the authorities, and 76% believe that society “practically does not control” or “rather weakly” controls the authorities. At the same time, a survey by the Levada Center showed that 66% of citizens would not like to personally “participate in political life, at least at the level of their city.” This does not mean that Russians are apathetic, the vice-rector of the university told Kommersant. Plekhanov, political scientist Sergei Markov, they are simply “chronically overloaded”: “A citizen who works two jobs says that it is necessary to control the bureaucracy. But this should be done by politically active citizens.”

According to sociologists, 28% of respondents are now ready for political activity, which is 6% more than in June 2012. Deputy director of the Levada Center Alexey Grazhdankin notes that 28% “who want to do something, at least declaratively, is a lot.” And since the figure has increased, it means that society has revived, the expert notes: “Those who fell asleep by the end of the 2000s began to wake up.”

This, as the sociologist notes, is noticed by citizens themselves. For example, in April 2010, 18% of respondents said that there was a “high probability” that “increasing social tension will result in rallies, demonstrations and other forms of social protest.” In April 2011, 21% of respondents answered this way, in June 2012 - 22%, and in October - already 24%. This means that “citizens are detecting some dissatisfaction,” explains Alexey Grazhdankin.

True, as the survey results show, Russians do not consider public activity an effective tool for solving their problems. In any case, when asked “how Russian citizens can most likely achieve solutions to their problems,” 6% of respondents chose participation in the activities of public organizations and civil initiatives, 4% chose participation in the work of parties and political movements, and participation in rallies , marches, strikes and other protests - 9%. For respondents, other ways are preferable: for example, going to court (33%), executive authorities (22%) and the media (24%). (The survey was conducted among 1,516 Russians on October 1-19, 2012, the error does not exceed 3.3%).

Maxim Ivanov

Citizens take a closer look at politics