Smirnov A.I. Reformating the political space and shifts in the political self-consciousness of Russian. Vestnik of Moscow State Linguistic University. Social sciences. 2021. No. 2 (843). Pp. 312-325.DOI 10.52070 ...

Abstract

The article is dedicated to analyzing the trends characterizing the features of the evolution of the political self-consciousness of Russians. The analysis is based on data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE). It is shown that throughout the entire post-Soviet period, the majority of Russian citizens experience serious difficulties with self-determination in the political space. The development of crisis tendencies in various spheres of public life has led to the disillusionment of a significant part of Russians with traditional party-political institutions. The most noticeable manifestations of the weakening of the ties of citizens with them is the growth of that part of the population, which completely lacks political self-identification. Today, a huge number of people do not trust any political structures and politicians. Another clearly visible trend is the growing uncertainty of the party-political choice of Russians, its unpredictability and inconsistency. Political identity increases the likelihood of citizens’ participation in social and political life, but due to its weakness and low stability, this influence is very limited.