Fewer Russians willing to join protests than eight years ago – poll

(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) Russian citizens’ protest potential has significantly declined over the last eight years, and their willingness to take part in mass protests against falling living standards is higher than [their willingness to take part in protests] with political demands, sociologists have found.

In 2005, the proportion of respondents willing to take part in protests was 23 per cent, whereas today the figure is 17 per cent, sociologists from the [independent political pollster] Levada Centre told Interfax based on the results of surveys conducted over many years.

A survey conducted in late October among 1,603 residents of 130 population centers in 45 regions of the Russian Federation has shown that currently an overwhelming majority of respondents (75 per cent) would not take part in protest actions in their town or district. Eight years ago, this view was shared by 63 per cent of respondents.

Executives and managers (24 per cent), those unemployed (22 per cent), workers (21 per cent), men in general (19 per cent), Russians aged 40-54 years (19 per cent), those with secondary special education (20 per cent), those with low consumption (20 per cent), Muscovites and residents of cities with a population of 100,000-500,000 (19 per cent) said they were willing to take part in protests more often than other respondents.

Asked by sociologists about the probability of people holding mass protests against falling living standards and for the protection of their rights, 68 per cent said this scenario was unlikely, while 26 per cent said that such protests were possible.

At the same time, according to the Levada Centre, over the past year the probability of protests with economic demands decreased by four percentage points (from 30 per cent in 2012), and the probability of protests with political demands remained the same (23 per cent).

The majority of respondents (78 per cent) still see no need to hold street protests with political demands, and if they are held, they will not join them (70 per cent), the sociologists said. [As received; in fact, according to the Levada Centre’s website at http://www.levada.ru/13-11-2013/protestnye-nastroeniya-rossiyan, 70 per cent of respondents said that political protests in their town or district were unlikely while 78 per cent said they would be unlikely to join political protests.]