Moscow, 6 July: The interest in politics has weakened among Russians over the last six years, sociologists of the Levada Centre have told Interfax presenting the results of their research. The number of those who showed no interest in political life grew from 20 to 26 per cent.

file photo
The poll conducted at the end of June in 134 locations in 45 Russian regions showed that the number of Russians who pay some attention to politics declined from 79 per cent in 2006 to 72 per cent this year.

Responding to the sociologists' question "Would you consider participating in the political life of your region?", most people (70 per cent) gave a negative answer. This represented an increase of 15 per cent in the current year.

At the same time, the Levada Centre's research showed that, during the last two years, the number of Russians who admit they do not understand politics (48 per cent) stayed the same. Forty-six per cent said that they are bored of politics.

According to the research data, those polled were equally divided over the question as to what Russia needed most at the moment. Forty-two per cent wished the state power to be publicly controlled, while the same number (42 per cent) favoured the state authorities being re-enforced.

Forty-one per cent of those polled believed the state power was strong enough, 44 per cent said the opposite.

For 51 per cent, the term "strong state power" was associated with "an authority that guarantees and ensures that all official bodies and citizens abide by the law without interfering with private lives".

Over the last two years, more Russians started believing that the public in general established control over the authorities (an increase from 48 per cent to 57 per cent). Fifteen per cent of those polled said that the public control was strengthened compared to 9 per cent in 2010, the Levada Centre's data revealed.

The poll also revealed a decline from 41 to 31 per cent in the number of those who believe the public does not control the authorities in the Russian Federation.

Keywords: Russia, Government, Politics - Russian News - Russia

Moscow, 6 July: The interest in politics has weakened among Russians over the last six years, sociologists of the Levada Centre have told Interfax presenting the results of their research. The number of those who showed no interest in political life grew from 20 to 26 per cent.

file photo
The poll conducted at the end of June in 134 locations in 45 Russian regions showed that the number of Russians who pay some attention to politics declined from 79 per cent in 2006 to 72 per cent this year.

Responding to the sociologists' question "Would you consider participating in the political life of your region?", most people (70 per cent) gave a negative answer. This represented an increase of 15 per cent in the current year.

At the same time, the Levada Centre's research showed that, during the last two years, the number of Russians who admit they do not understand politics (48 per cent) stayed the same. Forty-six per cent said that they are bored of politics.

According to the research data, those polled were equally divided over the question as to what Russia needed most at the moment. Forty-two per cent wished the state power to be publicly controlled, while the same number (42 per cent) favoured the state authorities being re-enforced.

Forty-one per cent of those polled believed the state power was strong enough, 44 per cent said the opposite.

For 51 per cent, the term "strong state power" was associated with "an authority that guarantees and ensures that all official bodies and citizens abide by the law without interfering with private lives".

Over the last two years, more Russians started believing that the public in general established control over the authorities (an increase from 48 per cent to 57 per cent). Fifteen per cent of those polled said that the public control was strengthened compared to 9 per cent in 2010, the Levada Centre's data revealed.

The poll also revealed a decline from 41 to 31 per cent in the number of those who believe the public does not control the authorities in the Russian Federation.