Russia's Authoritarian Elections: The View from Below

Figures & data

TABLE 1 
Reasons for Electoral Abstention, January–February 200 8

Response	%
‘I couldn't get to the polling station’	32
‘Nothing depends on my vote’	23
‘I don't trust any of the current politicians’	15
‘I am fed up with politics and the struggle for power’	7
‘There's no party that represents my interests’	5
‘I don't understand anything about politics’	4
‘I thought the elections would be unfair’	4
‘The Duma elections don't influence the government's actions’	3
Source: Authors' post-election survey conducted by Russian Research (n = 2,000, fieldwork 30 January–27 February 2008), showing the distribution of responses among those who reported not voting in rounded percentages; other responses account for the residual.

TABLE 2 
How ‘Free and Fair’ Were the Elections ?

	Largely fair	Somewhat fair	Somewhat unfair	Entirely unfair
Filling out ballots and counting of votes
Russia	19	41	20	5
Ukraine	16	34	28	7
Representation of people with different opinions
Russia	19	40	18	5
Ukraine	21	35	23	5
Television coverage
Russia	19	40	21	7
Ukraine	19	36	26	4
Local campaign
Russia	19	41	18	5
Ukraine	19	40	21	4
Source: for Russia, as Table 1, in rounded percentages; for Ukraine, a Socis survey carried out for the authors between 11 November and 3 December 2007 (n = 1,200); other responses account for residuals.

TABLE 3 
Elections and the Conduct of Government, 2008

	Russia	Ukraine
Do elections give ordinary citizens the opportunity to influence the national government?
Definitely agree	10	15
Inclined to agree	34	36
Inclined to disagree	26	26
Definitely disagree	22	15
Can elections affect the course of events in our country?
Definitely agree	15	18
Inclined to agree	37	42
Inclined to disagree	27	23
Definitely disagree	14	11
Source: as Table 2, in rounded percentages; other responses account for residuals.

TABLE 4 
Comparing Agencies of Political Action, 2007 and 2010

	Russia	Ukraine
To what extent can ordinary people influence the actions of the central government?
To a great extent	4	2
To some extent	17	15
Not much	25	29
Not at all	51	48
What is the most effective way of influencing national decision making?
No such way	37	34
Voting in regional or national elections	36	43
Taking part in a demonstration	8	10
Write to the government	5	2
Write to the newspapers	4	3
Source: for Russia, authors' survey conducted by Russian Research, fieldwork 12 February–1 March 2010, n = 2,000; for Ukraine, as Table 2; rounded percentages.

TABLE 5 
Comparing Political Efficacy, 2010

	In Russia	‘In the West’	In Ukraine	‘In the West’
To what extent can ordinary people influence the central government?
To a significant extent	2	8	2	24
To some extent	17	22	19	30
To an insignificant extent	25	17	34	11
Not at all	53	38	42	21
Source: as Table 4. Russians and Ukrainians were also asked to evaluate the extent to which ordinary people could influence the central government in their own countries and ‘in Western countries like Great Britain, Germany and the United States’; rounded percentages; other responses account for residuals.