Russians Losing Interest in Demonstrations, Poll Says

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 18, 2013) The number of Russians willing to participate in street protests has declined since its 2011 peak, a new poll from Levada Center shows.

Only 11 percent of respondents would join political protests, while 16 percent would rally for social issues, Gazeta.ru reported Thursday.

Sampling 1,601 adult Russians in 130 population centers throughout the country, the poll asked respondents whether they thought political protests were possible in their region and whether they would attend if protests occurred. The same questions were repeated for protests about a fall in the standard of living or defense of citizens’ rights.

The survey indicates that interest in protests has waned since 2011, when 17 percent of respondents said they would participate in political protests compared to 23 percent in social protests.

Since the early 2000s, Levada Center’s results show that an increasing number of people believe protests won’t happen in their region, with 73 and 68 percent of Russians saying that political and social protests respectively are “unlikely.” These numbers saw a small dip last year following the 2011-2012 anti-Putin demonstrations.

The statistical margin of error in the Levada Center poll was 3.4 percent.