Protests seem to be more real now than before. However, Russians are still not ready to participate in such actions.
MOSCOW, November 1, 2010. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the changes Russians expect in their life to happen; whether they think the mass protests can take place in the place of their residence, and if they would support such protests or no.
Social optimism index* slightly declined in October; it was down by 3 points (from 65 до 62), back to the April level. This was due to the decrease of the share of those respondents who are optimistic about the future (from 31 to 24%) and increase in the share of those who think no changes are expected to happen in their lives (from 45 to 50%).
Protest expectation index** has showed the first rise over the year and reached 36 points. It was due to the decreased number of those Russians who do no expect such actions to happen in the place of their residence(from 70 to 64%) and the increased number of those who think mass protests are possible to occur (from 23 to 27%).
As to personal participation in mass protests, the figure stays at the same level: over the recent year the index*** is fluctuating within 30-31 points. The stability is due to the steady share of those who are not ready to participate in protests (68-70%) and those who are possible to take part in protests (19-21%).
*Social Protest Index is calculated as a difference between negative and positive assessments. The higher the index value is, the more optimistic Russians are.
**Protest Expectation Index shows the degree of the probability of mass protests in communities. The higher the index value is, the more probable Russians think such actions are.
***Protest Potential Index показывает, насколько россияне готовы поддержать выступления протеста. Чем выше значение индекса, тем выше протестная активность россиян.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on October 9-10, 23-24, 2010. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin oferror does not exceed 3.4%.
In your opinion, will you/your family live better or worse in a year from now? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||||||||||
| October 2009 | December2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 |
Better | 28 | 31 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 24 | 31 | 24 |
The same way | 43 | 39 | 45 | 43 | 46 | 47 | 46 | 48 | 46 | 47 | 45 | 50 |
Worse | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 12 |
Hard to tell | 17 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
Index | 59 | 58 | 58 | 55 | 61 | 62 | 60 | 68 | 64 | 57 | 65 | 62 |
| In your opinion, are mass protests against fall in living standards possible to happen in your city/rural area residence? | |||||||||||
| October 2009 | November2009 | December2009 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 |
Quite possible | 25 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 27 |
Hardly possible | 67 | 68 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 69 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 66 | 70 | 64 |
Hard to tell | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
Index | 33 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 36 |
If mass protests against fall in living standards happen in your city/rural area residence will you personally take part or no? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||||||||||
| October 2009 | November2009 | December 2009 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 |
Rather yes | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
Rather no | 70 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 68 | 66 | 69 | 68 | 70 | 68 |
Hard to tell | 9 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 11 |
Index | 30 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 31 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or www.wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!