Interfax: Most Russians think Putin is doing his job well – poll
(Interfax – Moscow, October 15, 2014) Russians support the president of the Russian Federation and more and more often see their trust in Vladimir Putin as a reflection of his successful handling of the problems facing Russia, sociologists have told Interfax.
A poll conducted by the [Russian independent polling organization] Levada Centre among 1,630 people in 143 population centres in 46 regions of the country in September has shown that more than a third (38 per cent) of Russians think that the president is trusted thanks to his successes in resolving the country’s problems. Since a similar survey conducted in August 2013, this indicator has increased by 24 percentage points from 14 per cent.
Almost as many (36 per cent) of the respondents suggested that many people trust the Russian president hoping that he will be able to cope with problems in the future. Twenty-three per cent think that people have no-one else to rely on. In August 2013 this view was shared by 42 per cent of the respondents. Three per cent found it difficult to answer the question.
A relative majority of Russians (40 per cent) believe that there is no personality cult of Vladimir Putin in Russia. Nearly one-third (31 per cent) of the respondents see prerequisites for such a development, while 19 per cent think that the Russian president is already especially revered.
On the whole, the respondents support Putin. Thirty-one per cent of the respondents said that they fully share the views of the Russian president, 23 per cent expressed the willingness to support Putin in conducting democratic and market reforms. Seventeen per cent believe that currently the Russian leader has no competitors.
Only nine per cent admitted that they are not supporters of Putin. Eight per cent noted that “have recently been disappointed by him”, and six per cent expressed the hope that the president “will be useful for Russia” in the future.
Almost half (48 per cent) of Russians expressed confidence that during the years of Vladimir Putin as prime minister and president, citizens have learned a lot about him. Twenty-two per cent think that the Russian president is now “extremely well known both as a person and as a politician”. Only 23 per cent said that little is known about Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, 42 per cent of Russians think that the president sincerely wants to improve the welfare of the population “but he will not be able to do it because of the resistance of the bureaucracy, the lack of a good team”. More than a quarter (28 per cent) believe that Putin will be able to realize the good intentions in the next six years. Only 21 per cent of the respondents doubt that the Russian leader wants positive results for the population.
On the whole, 17 per cent gave the highest rating to the president’s activities, while in September 2013 the proportion of this group of respondents was only seven per cent. More than half (54 per cent) of the participants in the poll gave the ratings of 7, 8 and 9 to the Russian leader’s work [on a 10-point scale].