Generally, Russians are appreciating the idea to engage young people in public and political life; however, young people themselves seem to be less interested, according the VCIOM-Sputnik survey findings.
MOSCOW, July 11, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a survey devoted to studying the youth engagement in public and political life.
There is a high demand in the Russian society to engage young people in public and political life (90%); compared to 2007 (75%), this share has considerably increased. More than 80% of respondents in all age groups agree that youth should be more attracted towards these activities, however the share of unambiguous answers among younger generation is much smaller than among elder generation (“definitely should be engaged” answers given by 37-43% of the 18-34-year-olds, 52-59% among persons aged 35 and over).
The percentage of respondents who approve of youth political engagement varies from 67% to 34% (mainly - general participation in the voting, rarely – participation in parties’ activities, agitation in favor of certain candidate, electoral nomination). Anyway, respondents from older age groups more appreciate youth participation in political activities than younger respondents. Supporters of the idea are basically residents of Moscow and St Petersburg rather than male respondents and persons living in rural area.
The VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide survey was conducted on June 20-21, 2017. The survey involved 1,200 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 3.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Results for the 2005, 2007 studies are based on household surveys.
In your opinion, should young people be engaged in social and political life of the country? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) |
| |||
| 2005 | 2007 | 2017 | |
Definitely yes | 48 | 42 | 53 | |
Rather yes | 34 | 33 | 37 | |
Rather not | 12 | 12 | 6 | |
Definitely not | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
Don’t know | 4 | 10 | 3 | |
In your opinion, should young people be engaged in social and political life of the country? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||||||||
| Total respondents | Men | Women | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
Definitely yes | 53 | 51 | 56 | 43 | 37 | 52 | 57 | 69 |
Rather yes | 37 | 36 | 38 | 48 | 46 | 39 | 34 | 27 |
Rather not | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
Definitely not | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Don’t know | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
In your opinion, in what kind of political activities should young people be engaged? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, %) | ||||||||
| Total respondents | Men | Women | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
Voting in an election | 67 | 58 | 73 | 60 | 59 | 66 | 70 | 72 |
Discussing political situation in private conversations | 46 | 38 | 52 | 30 | 37 | 49 | 47 | 55 |
Participation in the activities of non-profit political organizations | 46 | 40 | 51 | 43 | 39 | 47 | 47 | 51 |
Public discussion of political situation | 44 | 39 | 48 | 30 | 38 | 46 | 47 | 50 |
Participation in rallies and demonstrations | 38 | 36 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 36 | 39 | 37 |
Participation in the activities of political parties | 37 | 33 | 40 | 26 | 28 | 39 | 37 | 46 |
Signing written requests, petitions | 37 | 32 | 41 | 26 | 34 | 37 | 38 | 43 |
Campaigning for an elective public office (deputies, mayors, governors, etc.) | 37 | 34 | 40 | 26 | 32 | 29 | 39 | 49 |
Agitation in favor of candidates during election | 34 | 30 | 38 | 22 | 20 | 39 | 36 | 46 |
Young people should not take part in politics | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
Other | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Don’t know | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
In your opinion, in what kind of political activities should young people be engaged? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, %) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths. inhabitants | 100–500 ths. inhabitants | Less than 100 ths. | Rural area |
Voting in an election | 67 | 74 | 69 | 63 | 61 | 68 | 67 |
Discussing political situation in private conversations | 46 | 46 | 45 | 41 | 44 | 50 | 45 |
Participation in the activities of non-profit political organizations | 46 | 59 | 40 | 43 | 44 | 49 | 42 |
Public discussion of political situation | 44 | 57 | 35 | 44 | 42 | 46 | 42 |
Participation in rallies and demonstrations | 38 | 41 | 42 | 38 | 34 | 39 | 36 |
Participation in the activities of political parties | 37 | 47 | 37 | 27 | 35 | 40 | 34 |
Signing written requests, petitions | 37 | 43 | 36 | 35 | 37 | 41 | 32 |
Campaigning for an elective public office (deputies, mayors, governors, etc.) | 37 | 46 | 35 | 28 | 30 | 40 | 38 |
Agitation in favor of candidates during election | 34 | 38 | 30 | 36 | 31 | 40 | 31 |
Young people should not take part in politics | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
Other | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Don’t know | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
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!