Results of our studies

IN BRIEF

Presidential address to the Federal Assembly drew attention among Russians (an increase from 43% in 2016 to 59% in 2018). Respondents mainly favor proposals concerning defense and security.

MOSCOW, March 13, 2018. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a study devoted to the recent presidential address to the Russian Federal Assembly.

The presidential address to the Federal Assembly attracted extremely wide attention among the public: 59% were aware of its main points during the survey (an increase from 43% in 2016). Twenty percent of Russians listened to the address attentively from the beginning to the end; 39% found out about the highlights from the news programs. The 2018 Interest Index is 56 p.

The Medialogia Company analysis involved more than 60,000 mentions of the address found in the Russian mass media from March 1st to 12th.  

The respondents who are aware of the content of the presidential address remember and liked topics such as military capacity, military-industrial complex (35%) followed by healthcare reform (11%) and public well-being (6%). Less than 10% mentioned ideas they disliked. Respondents would like to know more about the problems of the retired persons (7%), increase in salaries and minimum wage (5%).

Russians perceived the presidential address mainly in a positive way: 60% show enthusiasm. Every third (30%) agrees with the statements and ideas expressed; at the same time, they say that the same things have already been told but they did not come into being.

An overwhelming majority of Russians (81%) who kept track of the address or found out about the main topics from the news consider that the tasks mentioned by the president are very specific and realistic; however only 34% believe that they will be implemented in the near future, while 47% say that nothing will be done due to corruption and bureaucracy.

Top three most important tasks among those expressed by the president involve solving healthcare problems (56%), decreasing poverty level and increasing income level (46%), and developing education (35%).

*Interest Index shows how interested the Russians are in the presidential address to the Federal Assembly. The higher the value is, the more interested the Russians are. The Index is based on the questions “This week President Putin delivered his address to the Federal Assembly. Did you follow the presidential performance or not?” The Index is calculated as the sum of answers; the answer “Yes, I followed the presidential address very attentively” corresponds to “1”; the answer “I did not follow the presidential address attentively” gets “0.66”; the answer “No, I did not follow the presidential address” gets “0.33”; and the answer “I am not interested in politics; it does not matter to me” corresponds to “0”. The Index is measured in points and can vary from 0 to 100.

The VCIOM-Sputnik initiative Russian nationwide survey was conducted on March 6-7, 2018. Sample involved 2,000 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

The 2006-2015 results are based on household surveys. In 2016, a total number of 1,600 respondents were surveyed using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%.

 

The Russian media monitoring and analysis is carried out by the Medialogia Company using the Medialogia database of 43,400 sources such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines information agencies and online media. The period of study was January – May 2017.

 

This week president Putin delivered his presidential address to the Federal Assembly. Did you follow his speech?*

 (closed-ended question, one answer, % of all respondents)

 

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

18

Yes, I followed the presidential address very attentively

16

17

23

12

17

12

10

10

10

9

16

13

15

20

I did not follow the presidential address attentively but I learnt the basic point from news , publications, media

22

27

35

32

28

26

22

18

20

20

23

22

28

39

No, I did not follow the presidential address

50

39

30

38

40

42

42

56

50

48

45

51

45

32

I am not interested in politics; it does not matter to me

11

15

10

16

14

18

24

14

19

22

15

12

10

9

Don’t know

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

0

Index

47

47

56

46

49

43

38

40

39

38

45

45

49

56

* in 2008-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

 

If you followed the presidential speech, which ideas and proposals did you remember and like/dislike? Name two or three of them  (open-ended question, not more than 3 answers per each column, % of those who followed the speech or found out about it from news; answers of at least 1% of respondents per each line)  

What I liked

What I disliked

Military-industrial complex/weapons/security/army/military capacity

35

Military part/Arms race

3

Healthcare reform

11

Foreign policy issues

1

Improving public well-being/fighting poverty

6

Other

4

Social policy/closeness to people

5

I liked everything

10

Education reform

5

Don’t know

83

Economy policies

4

 

 

Pension reform/pension increase

4

 

 

Active foreign policy/support for peaceful initiatives

3

 

 

Salary increase/living wage increase

3

 

 

Maternity and childhood: maternity capital, helping young families

3

 

 

Country’s development/internal policies

3

 

 

Road construction and repairs/transport problems

3

 

 

Banking/Mortgage loan/Loan/Insurance

3

 

 

Fighting cancer

2

 

 

Housing problem

2

 

 

Development of industry and agriculture

2

 

 

US-Russia relations. Arms race

2

 

 

Fighting corruption

2

 

 

Youth policies

2

 

 

Fighting unemployment /new jobs

1

 

 

Increase the life expectancy

1

 

 

I liked everything

1

 

 

Improve Russia’s image internationally  

1

 

 

Development of regions

1

 

 

Helping small businesses

1

 

 

Other

4

 

 

Don’t know

44

 

 

 

What would you personally like to hear that you have not heard in the presidential address? (open-ended question, not more than 3 answers, % of those who followed the speech or found out about it from news; answers of at least 1% of respondents per each line)

 

% of respondents

Lack of attention to the retired persons/when the pensions  will be increased

7

Increase of salaries/ minimum living wage

5

Everything that is needed was said

4

Healthcare/Free medical aid

4

Control over the work of regional authorities/ change of government  

4

Education/About education free of charge /cancellation of Unified State Exam

4

Ways to fight corruption

4

Increase in living standards

3

About support for agriculture, farming and industry. Revival of villages and rural area

3

How to fight unemployment

2

He didn’t talk too much about the internal policies  

2

Maternity and childhood/social benefits

2

Steps of economic development

2

Social policies/About changes in the life of the disabled and the economically disadvantaged persons

2

On affordable housing

1

Detailed plan on each point

1

About increase of pensions  of the employed retired persons

1

About reforms of housing and utilities sector

1

Tax policy

1

Regional policy

1

Foreign policy

1

Youth policy details

1

Decrease and control of prices

1

About closeness to people. The thing that we are heard

1

Nationalization of resources

1

Court system reform

1

What was achieved during his presidency?

1

Increase of retirement age

1

Other

7

Don’t know

53

 

How would you generally assess the presidential address? *

 (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who followed the speech or found out about it from news)

 

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15 

18

It evoked hope and enthusiasm

48

55

53

44

41

42

28

38

28

53

57

60

The ideas were good but they were expressed previously and no steps have been made  

42

37

36

45

45

43

52

51

55

39

34

30

I disagree with most of ideas expressed by the president

3

4

2

4

5

3

10

5

7

2

1

1

I am not interested in anything expressed by the president

2

1

2

1

2

2

3

3

5

2

3

1

Don’t know

5

3

6

5

7

9

7

4

5

5

5

8

* in 2008-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

 

In your opinion, how realistic are the tasks mentioned in the presidential address; and will they be implemented?

 (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who followed the speech or found out about it from news)

 

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2018

President  pointed to specific, realistic tasks, and they are likely to be implemented in the shortest time possible

28

31

31

36

29

49

34

President  pointed to specific, real tasks but they will not be implemented due to corruption and bureaucracy

49

47

40

42

46

31

47

President’s proposals are too general, not detailed, they cannot be implemented  

11

12

17

16

20

8

6

Don’t know

12

10

12

6

5

12

13

* in 2009-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

** in 2009-2014 the answer option was “President pointed to realistic, detailed tasks but  they are more likely not to be implemented”

 

Which of the following tasks expressed by president Vladimir Putin are important for Russia today?

 (closed-ended question, not more than 5 answers, % of all respondents, answers mentioned by at least 1% of respondents)

 

Total respondents

Improve the healthcare quality, its accessibility

56

Decrease the poverty level; increase people’s  income

46

Develop education, modern professional  orientation

35

Improvements in the housing and utilities sector

33

Develop transport, road construction/repairs

31

Improve the living conditions

28

Develop each region’s economy

25

Increase the birth rate, the life expectancy

22

Create new strategic weapons systems

22

Reinforce Russia’s position in the world’s top five economies

16

Spatial development of cities and rural areas  

16

Improve environment; open new  reserves and parks

16

Go to the next level in science

13

Technological breakthrough: development of robotics, artificial intelligence, e-commerce

12

Increased small business’s  share in GDP  

10

Development of cultural infrastructure

7

Strengthen democracy and civil society  

4

Other

4

Don’t know

4

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! The use of the Medialogia system content, fully or partially, must be accompanied by the reference to the Medialogia Company.

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