We do not know the Constitution well but we strongly hold on to its basic rights and freedoms.
MOSCOW, December 12, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey describing the Russian awareness and attitudes towards the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The Constitution Awareness Index* that hit 58 p. in 2013 declined to 46 p. in 2016 which is close to the 2009 meaning (49 p.) on a scale from -100 to 100. Generally, most of Russians (72%) are aware of the constitutional law (72%), however 64% have only a general view of its basic provisions. The share of Russians who are well aware of the Constitution is 8 % (average across sample) (13% among residents of Moscow and St Petersburg; 14% among respondents with high education diplomas).
Russian attitudes regarding the importance of the Constitution on a national scale are ambiguous: 34% of respondents say that it is important for the society; 32% say that its role is insignificant, and 27% say that the constitutional provisions are nothing but mere formality and not observed in reality.
At the same time, many respondents recognize that constitutional rights and freedoms are important. The most important rights and freedoms mentioned by them are as follows: health protection (51%), right to housing (46%), right to life (46%; 61% in 2009). Much more Russians pay attention to the importance of their right to education: over the recent seven years their number has risen from 30% to 44%. The most frequently violated constitutional rights are the right to health protection (34%), the right to labor (30%), to housing (29%), to social protection (28%), to protection of the rights and freedoms (26%).
*Constitution Awareness Index shows how much Russians are informed about the Russian Constitution content. The higher the value of index is, the higher the awareness level is. The Index is based on the question: “Are you aware of the Constitution content and its basic provisions?”; it is calculated as the difference between the sum of the answers “Yes. I am well aware of the Constitution provision”, “I only have a general idea of the basic provisions of the Russian Constitution” and the answer “I have no idea about what the Russian Constitution is about”. The Index is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100.
The VCIOM survey was conducted on December, 3-4, 2016, in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 8 federal districts of Russia. Sample size was 1600 persons. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. 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. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account.
On December 12th, the Russian Constitution Day is celebrated. Are you aware of the content of the Russian Constitution and its basic provisions? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||||
| 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | 2016 |
Yes I am well aware of the basic provisions of the Russian Constitution | 16 | 18 | 14 | 8 |
I have a general view of the basic provisions of the Russian Constitution | 57 | 59 | 64 | 64 |
I have no idea about the content of the Russian Constitution | 24 | 22 | 20 | 26 |
Don’t know | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Constitution Awareness Index | 49 | 55 | 58 | 46 |
In your opinion, what role does the Constitution play today in Russia? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||
| 2013 | 2016 |
It plays an important role; it maintains order in the country and defines citizens’ rights and freedoms | 35 | 34 |
It plays an unimportant role | 35 | 32 |
It does not play any role at all; the Constitution exists only on paper and in reality its provisions are not observed | 22 | 27 |
Don’t know | 8 | 7 |
What basic rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are the most important to you? (closed-ended question, not more than 7 answers, %) | ||||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2009 г | 2013 | 2016 |
Health protection | 40 | 47 | 43 | 51 | 49 | 49 |
Right to housing | 32 | 38 | 39 | 43 | 40 | 46 |
Right to life | 45 | 49 | 52 | 61 | 56 | 46 |
Right to labor | 45 | 49 | 54 | 51 | 47 | 44 |
Right to education | 23 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 44 |
Right to social security (in case of old age, illness, et cet.) | 33 | 40 | 37 | 38 | 31 | 36 |
Right to liberty and personal security | 37 | 40 | 44 | 54 | 51 | 32 |
Protection of individual rights and freedoms including judicial protection | 16 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 23 | 32 |
Right to leisure | 31 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 37 | 31 |
Freedom of thought and speech | 19 | 17 | 22 | 32 | 32 | 29 |
Right to mother tongue | 10 | 11 | 15 | 23 | 19 | 22 |
Freedom from interference with privacy | 24 | 25 | 26 | 32 | 32 | 22 |
Private property and entrepreneurship rights | 13 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 20 |
Freedom of movement within the country and abroad | 9 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 18 |
Freedom of conscience and religion | 8 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 14 |
Right to elect and be elected | 6 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
Right to participate in public and political life | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
Freedom of associations and unions | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
I haven’t thought much about it | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
In your opinion, what rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are most often violated in Russia? (closed-ended question, not more than 7 answers, %) | |||
| 2010 | 2013 | 2016 |
Health protection | 38 | 30 | 34 |
Right to labor | 18 | 27 | 30 |
Right to housing | 35 | 24 | 29 |
Right to social security (in case of old age, illness, et cet.) | 20 | 21 | 28 |
Protection of individual rights and freedoms including judicial protection | 16 | 20 | 26 |
Right to education | 32 | 23 | 24 |
Freedom of thought and speech | 14 | 17 | 21 |
Right to liberty and personal security | 19 | 26 | 21 |
Freedom from interference with privacy | 13 | 19 | 20 |
Private property and entrepreneurship rights | 9 | 11 | 17 |
Right to leisure | 21 | 18 | 16 |
Right to life | 18 | 16 | 12 |
Right to elect and be elected | 9 | 9 | 8 |
Freedom of conscience and religion | 15 | 5 | 8 |
Right to participate in public and political life | 16 | 8 | 7 |
Freedom of movement within the country and abroad | 10 | 7 | 7 |
Freedom of associations and unions | 8 | 6 | 5 |
Right to mother tongue | 9 | 6 | 4 |
None of them are violated | 7 | 6 | 7 |
I haven’t thought much about it | 14 | 17 | 13 |
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!