Socio-Political Views of the Russian Population. Report. Preliminary Results of a Sociological Study of the Russian Population’s Socio-Political Views, Commissioned by the Analytical Department of the President of the Russian Federation. August 1995

The report analyzes the public opinion on the main socio-economic and political issues at the end of the fourth year of Boris Yeltsin’s presidential term, on the eve of the Duma elections in December 1995 and the presidential elections in 1996. The poll’s data show the growing discontent of the population with the state of affairs in the country, the economic crisis, their own impoverishment, and the inability of the authorities to solve the country’s main problems. At the same time, a growing number of people lost interest in politics, lost confidence the political and economic reforms will lead to the country’s revival, democratization, and the ability to choose the best people for positions of power.Two thirds of the people said that they have become worse off than at the start of radical reforms ten years ago, while the main responsibility for the plight of the people and the country lies within the current government, which had no idea where the country’s economy was going, and had no program for overcoming the crisis. 75% believed that the government lives by its own interests; they do not care about the people. Market reforms initiated by Boris Yeltsin spurred mass negative assessments: our life before the reforms was better and more prosperous; the people were deceived, they were promised market socialism, and were drawn into the construction of capitalism; reforms were based on robbing the people, only speculators, swindlers, and officials had benefited from them. Regretting the dismantling of socialism, the population had lost belief that the ideas of socialism and communism were able to unite society again. As such an idea, the majority suggested reviving Russia as a powerful state, while calling for following a special, Russian path which implies a “strong hand” in power.The majority believed that the President and the government had already exhausted their opportunities to put an end to the crisis in Russia, and that they should be replaced with new people. The assessment of the President’s performance reached its lowest point during his administration – only 6% expressed their approval and 71% disapproved. The war in Chechnya seriously harmed the President’s popularity. More than 80% expressed negative assessments on the Kremlin’s Chechnya policies.