Today 64% admit that they would vote for the preservation of the Soviet Union.
MOSCOW, March 16, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data describing how Russians would answer to the question on the preservation of the USSR.
Twenty-five years after the referendum on the preservation of the USSR took place (March 17, 1991), most of citizens are still ready to give an affirmative answer. According to the Central Commission of the Referendum of USSR, 76% of the voters marked “yes” in the ballot (71% of the citizens of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic). Today 64% of Russians would vote for the preservation of the USSR. This share makes up 47% among those aged 18-24, 76% among persons aged 60 and over and 81% among the CPRF supporters. Today 20% of Russians would give a negative answer.
Russians believe that the reasons for failure to fulfill the outcomes of the referendum are internal. They blame the USSR leader (27%) and supreme power in general (17%). According to the results of a recent opinion poll, it is the USSR disintegration which is considered to be the biggest Gorbachev’s failure (36%). Thirteen percent blame Boris Yeltsin and his team. Two percent of respondents cite the United States and Western countries; and only 1% of respondents consider that there is no one to blame. Many Russians still remain undecided (40% fail to give any answer).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on March 5-6, 2016. A total of 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
If a referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held today, what would be your answer to the question: “Do you consider necessary the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics in which the rights and freedom of an individual of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?” (close-ended question, one answer, %) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and above |
Yes | 64 | 47 | 51 | 65 | 70 | 76 |
No | 20 | 24 | 25 | 20 | 19 | 13 |
Don’t know | 16 | 29 | 24 | 15 | 12 | 11 |
An overwhelming majority of the Soviet Union citizens voted for the preservation of the USSR, however this decision was not implemented, and the USSR ceased to exist several months later. In your opinion, who is to blame for the fact that the referendum results were not implemented? (open-ended question, any number of answers; answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
«Inside» influence | |
Gorbachev / Gorbachev’s team | 27 |
Supreme power / deputies /Government | 17 |
Yeltsin / Yeltsin’s team | 13 |
Participants of the Bialowieza forest meeting / CIS leaders | 3 |
Politicians ("internal political competition”) | 2 |
Time has come (“USSR economic situation”, “life is to blame”, “historical process”, “circumstances”) | 1 |
Soviet period politicians (Andropov, Shevarnadze, Kuchma, Khruschev, Brezhnev, Lukashenko, Nazarbaev) | 1 |
Other people who benefited from that (“elite’s interests”, oligarchs”) | 1 |
Other | 2 |
«Outside» influence | |
U.S.A. and Western countries (“impact of international relations”, “pressure from abroad”) | 2 |
|
|
No one to blame | 1 |
Don’t know | 40 |
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.