Citizens and experts on trust in the institutions and policies of the Russian state

Abstract

The article is devoted to the sociological analysis of the level of trust of the Russian society to the authorities in the conditions of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. The events of February 2022 became a turning point not only in the global, but also in the internal Russian socio-political situation, marking the beginning of cardinal transformations in the mood and public position of Russian citizens. Under such conditions, the institution of trust becomes one of the most important priorities in ensuring the sustainability of the Russian statehood. The analysis is based on the comparison of data from expert surveys conducted with the author's participation in 2022-2023 with the results of the all-Russian sociological monitoring "How are you, Russia?" (both studies were conducted by ISPR FCTAS RAS). The assessment of both expert and mass sociological surveys allows us to conclude that the majority of society understands the crucial nature of the special military operation for the future of the country and supports it. Over the two years since the beginning of the special operation, citizens' trust in the president and the institutions of power has grown, the course for the denazification of Ukraine, according to experts, is supported by key actors of civil society (although the categorical attitude to the special operation, whether positive or negative, is gradually being replaced by a neutral one, which may be due to the routinisation of the subject). Based on the analysis of the dynamics of expert assessments and sociological monitoring data, the author concludes that a new social reality has emerged in the country, the distinctive feature of which is the formation of a stable nucleus of social actors that maintain a high level of public trust in the state, but it has not become prevalent and unchanged at the moment.