According to Russians, the source of the power in Russia is president, not people.
MOSCOW, December 11, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information describing how well Russians know the main provisions of the Russian Constitution.
Only 23% of Russians believe that according to the Russian constitution people is the only source of power in Russia. This share has not changed much over the recent ten years (19% in 2005). More than half of respondents (55%) consider that the source of power in Russia is Russian president (57% of supporters of the United Russia party; 40% of non-parliament parties` supporters). Every tenth respondent (11%) mentions Russian parliament. Three percent of Russians cite superior power.
Russians are more aware of the form of government: 72% know that Russia is a federal state (67% in 2005). Those who gave the right answers are students (78%) and rural area residents (77%) rather than respondents with low level of education (52%), and residents of Moscow and St.Petersburg (62%). Others are wrong stating that Russia is a union of independent states (13%) or a unitary state according to the constitution (4%).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on November 15-16, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3,5%.
Who is the source of power and the holder of sovereignty in the Russian Federation? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||
| 2005 | 2014 |
Russian president | 55 | 55 |
Russian parliament | 12 | 11 |
Citizens (people) | 19 | 23 |
Superior power (God) | 1 | 3 |
Don`t know | 13 | 8 |
Who is the source of power and the holder of sovereignty in the Russian Federation? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and more |
Russian president | 55 | 58 | 56 | 58 | 53 | 53 |
Russian parliament | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
Citizens (people) | 23 | 18 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 22 |
Superior power (God) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Don`t know | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
What form of government does Russia have? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||
| 2005 | 2014 |
Unitary state | 4 | 4 |
Federated state | 67 | 72 |
Union of independent states | 14 | 13 |
Don`t know | 16 | 11 |
What form of government does Russia have? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Unitary state | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
Federated state | 72 | 62 | 71 | 80 | 76 | 69 | 77 |
Union of independent states | 13 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 14 |
Don`t know | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 6 |
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