Russians Overwhelmingly Believe Those in Power Pursue Their Interests rather than Those of the People, Moscow Institute of Sociology Study Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 28 – The Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on the basis of polls taken between 2018 and 2022 says “the vast majority” of Russians believe those in power act in their own interests rather than those of the population, with many saying t protests are more effective than law in reining in the powerful.

            The text of the book, The Political Order as Understood by Russian Citizens (in Russian, Moscow: Academy of Sciences, 2026, 150 pp.), is available at isras.ru/files/File/publ/publ2026/Politichesky_poryadok_sbornik_2026_final.pdf). It has been discussed in detail by Club of the Regions experts at club-rf.ru/theme/715).

            The text provides the responses of Russians over those four years to important questions not often posed by mainline polling agencies. Among the most intriguing of these was “What limits those in power?” The top three answers were “nothing” (37 percent), “protests” (24 percent), and “the law” (19 percent).