#1
Versty
December 11, 2001
CZAR IS TOO FAR
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
The recent Civil Forum was a refection of a serious Russian problem - the great distance between the Russian citizenry and the society in which they live, its governing bodies. The National Public Opinion Research Center has done a poll. following the example of the Harris service that annually measures the "estrangement index" in the US. According to the results of the poll, 92% of respondents are convinced that the majority of those at the helm "try to use their position to get some personal benefits". Eighty six percent of Russians state, "People in power overall do not care what will happen to us," and 74% of respondents concluded, "no one seriously takes our opinion into consideration."
Overall, according to the research, the Russian "estrangement index" is critical - this means we are still unbelievably far from a civil society. We should not be talking about it at forums; we ought to be creating it, day by day.
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