INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AGENCY

Russians have come to show more confidence in the Army and Federal Security Service and less of that in the media

 

Citizens’ confidence in main political system agencies is an essential part of the national stability and development. Bashkirova and partners Company has explored how the Russian people feel about the key government, political and public agencies. The initial part of the study took place January 2013, and the second stage incurred 12 months later, January 2014.

 

*  The total of responses (“have strong confidence” and “rather have confidence” in the mentioned agencies)

The level of confidence in the major political agencies is in overall stable. Russians are showing the biggest trust in the Russian President. 60% of respondents believed the Russian President in January 2014, and the figure by 3 percentage points exceeds that of early 2013. The growth of confidence level for the regional legislative assemblies by 4 percentage points is also worth noting.

 

After Sergey Shoigu took office of the Russian Minister of Defense and started the ambitious program on the Russian Army refit, the Russians confidence in the National armed forces has grown by 8 percentage points over the last 12 months.

After some of potential terrorist attacks were arrested and several anti-corruption cases were made headlines, Russians’ trust in the Russian secret services has grown by 6 percentage points (it’s evident the suicide bomber attack in Volgograd has failed to reverse the general positive trend). Besides, the level of trust in relation of other defense and law enforcement agencies has also improved.

  

The Russian Orthodox Church enjoys the greatest trust of the Russian citizens. The Russian Media is taking the second top line though the number of such respondents is by 6 percentage points lower now. This might be driven by increasing number of Internet and particularly social media users. The political parties of Russia have appeared on the bottom of this list, following Trade Unions and civil movements. This is the evidence of citizens’ dissatisfaction with the party system established in Russia.

 

Decrease in Russians’ trust in the media as a credible information source was being observed in 2013. Television being the most common channel of information has suffered the biggest losses with respect to this. By 9 percentage points less respondents show their confidence in television in 2014, if compared to the year of 2013. Less people also believe radio stations. The figure has dropped by 6 percentage points over the same period. The level of confidence in news sites, blog messages in social media have gone down by 3 percentage points. It’s possible Russians have got tired of politically motivated news interpretation (both on federal television channels and in online media). Excessively aggressive gesturing might make people doubt of the media market key players being true and sincere.

 

The study was conducted in January 2013 and 2014 based on all-Russia representative random route sample in adults (18+) using face-to-face interview method in place of residence. Altogether 1500 respondents in 8 federal districts, 100 settlements have been interviewed. The sample error makes up 2,5%.

 

* percentage point

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