More than 40 Percent of Russians Say Moscow Seeks to Solve Its Problems at the Expense of the Regions and Republics, Surveys Show

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 19 – Forty-one percent of the residents of the Russian Federation say that “the main thing for the central authorities in Moscow is to solve their own problems at the expense of the regions of Russia,” according to surveys conducted by the Moscow Institute of Sociology discussed by Irina Vorobyova.

            The Moscow sociologist’s article on the nature of the social contract in Russia in Putin’s time is available at isras.ru/index.php?page_id=2384&id=711&l=&jn=94). It is discussed in detail by Yevgeny Chernyshov, an analyst for the Nakanune news portal at nakanune.ru/articles/123495/.

            Among other important findings in this study are the following:

·       41 percent of Russians say that the Russian state defends and expresses the interests of the wealthy, with another 23 percent saying it defends and expresses the interests of the state bureaucracy. Only 36 percent say it defends the interests of all Russians.

·       59 percent of Russians say the main conflict in the country is between the rich and poor, 53 percent between the lower and upper classes, and 45 percent between the people and those in power.

·       85 percent favor returning some or all of the country’s economic enterprises to state ownership and control. That share has increased over the last decade.

·       Russians have a clear understanding of the difference between socialism and capitalism. They associate the former with justice, patriotism, order, popular power, cooperation, morality, and equality of all before the law.

·       They associate the latter with competition and private property and even more with “the power of a narrow group of people, corruption, crime and the absence of social defenses.