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strana.ru
December 12, 2001
Legitimate Holiday
For 67% of the Russians, Constitution Day is nothing more than an extra day off
In Russia, Constitution Day (December 12) is not considered a popular holiday. According to the results of an opinion poll this month, for 67% of the people in this country, Constitution Day is simply an additional day off. Every fifth Russian (20%) regards Constitution Day as a holiday. However, a poll conducted in January (2001) showed that only 9% of the citizens viewed that day as a holiday.
The survey demonstrated that Constitution Day does not arouse any special emotions among the public. "I view it only as a day off. There is no feeling of pride or anything like that in my heart." This was quite a typical response according to a poll conducted in Samara.
Such an attitude towards the holiday is explained largely by society's attitude towards the country's Fundamental Law. In the opinion of 47% of the respondents in the December poll, the Constitution is purely a formal document, whereas 41% consider that the Constitution plays a decisive role in the life of the country.
Quite a large segment of Russian society (38%) consider the present Constitution to be a "poor" one, 28% view it as a "good" one, while 34% were unable to express their opinion. Besides that, 67% of the respondents consider that the Constitution today should be reexamined and that amendments should be added. Only 8% think otherwise.
It is noteworthy that besides indifference towards the Constitution, the poll also demonstrated that the citizens of the country do not know much about it. More than half (55%) of the citizens admit that they know nothing about the basic statutes in that document, whereas 36% claim otherwise. However, poll analysts believe the number of people who really know something about the basic provisions in the Constitution is in reality considerably smaller. Polls conducted in Samara and Novosibirsk revealed that none of the respondents had ever read the Constitution and knew nothing about it, whereas as poll in Moscow demonstrated that only two respondents had ever read the Constitution.
Although the results of the polls do not represent the nationwide situation, they are nevertheless quite indicative. It is noteworthy that the ratio of respondents in big cities who declared they were acquainted with the Constitution was somewhat higher than in smaller cities and rural areas.
Also noteworthy is the fact that 60% of the respondents that knew nothing about the Constitution, nonetheless, expressed their attitudes towards the document (25% - positive, 35% - negative), whereas 40% were unable to define their stand. Among the respondents that were acquainted with the Constitution, 35% view it as a "good" one, 46% - "bad" and 19% were undecided.
A total of 1,500 respondents in cities and rural areas participated in the polls that were conducted December 1-2 and January 13, 2001.
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