Ksenia Sobchak has high popularity but the public attitudes towards her are extremely negative. Indeed, she is a candidate “against all”, or at least “not for all”.
MOSCOW, October 19, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a study about the “non-system” opposition, what Russians know and how they assess Ksenia Sobchak.
Almost every Russian is aware of who Ksenia Sobchak is (in 2015, 95% of respondents said they knew her). But respondents’ attitudes towards Sobchak are likely to be negative: 60% of those who know her say so (the share of positive answers is 21%).
Among those Russians who know what the non-system opposition means (12% according to the 2016 data) 4% think that Ksenia Sobchak belongs to it (or less than 1% of respondents in the general sample).
VCIOM surveys were conducted in 2012-2016 in 130 settlements, 46 regions, krais and republics across 8 Russian federal districts. The sample (n=1600) is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey. The 2005-2016 results are also based on household surveys.
Now I will read the names of politicians and public figures and you will have to tell me who you know. Ksenia Sobchak (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||
| 2012 | 2015 |
I know who she is | 57 | 72 |
I heard something about her | 35 | 23 |
This is the first time I hear | 9 | 5 |
How do you treat these people – positively or negatively? Ksenia Sobchak (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who previously heard of Sobchak) | ||
| 2012 | 2015 |
Rather positively | 23 | 21 |
Rather negatively | 57 | 60 |
Don’t know | 20 | 19 |
Have you heard of “non-system opposition”? What does it mean, in your opinion? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |
| Total respondents, 2016 |
Heard of; could provide associations | 12 |
Never heard of | 72 |
Don’t know | 16 |
Name exactly who you treat as “non-system opposition” in modern Russia? (open-ended question, not more than three answers, % of those who heard of “non-system opposition” expression) | |
| Total respondents, 2016 |
Navalny | 15 |
Kasyanov | 10 |
Sobchak | 4 |
Zhirinovsky | 3 |
Nemtsov | 3 |
Khodorkovsky | 2 |
Kasparov | 2 |
Yavlinsky | 2 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!