{"id":10561,"date":"2018-01-24T07:42:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T07:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=10561"},"modified":"2018-01-24T03:04:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:04:02","slug":"do-russians-really-adore-putin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/do-russians-really-adore-putin\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Russians Really Adore Putin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because politics is often the only aspect of Russian life that gets covered in the media abroad, I have made it a point to share other stories about Russia on this blog \u2014 from recent Russian films<\/a> you can stream to renting an apartment\/flat<\/a> in Russia. At the same time, as Vladimir Putin (\u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u041f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u0438\u043d<\/strong>) is poised to win his re-election bid<\/a> in 2018, it’s understandable that the person who has been in power since 1999 (whether as president or prime minster<\/a>) gets more attention than perhaps any other story from Russia.<\/p>\n

\"Painting

By Alex Akindinov [CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a> or GFDL<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>Do Russians really adore their leader? Or are they so afraid of the state apparatus that they fake support? This post will try to examine the attitudes of Russians to their president.<\/p>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

In 1999, the first president of an independent Russia, Boris Yeltsin, \u0411\u043e\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u0441 \u0415<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0446\u0438\u043d<\/strong>, (remember, Mikhail Gorbachev, \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0438<\/span>\u043b \u0413\u043e\u0440\u0431\u0430\u0447\u0451\u0432<\/strong>, was the first and last president of the USSR), announced he was stepping down from his office. The prime minister at the time, 5th in less than 2 years, Vladimir Putin, became acting president. Yeltsin endorsed Putin as his successor (\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>). Putin ended up winning<\/a> 53 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n

Sources of Approval<\/h2>\n

Rapid and, some would say, poorly managed economic reforms (\u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 \u0440\u0435\u0444\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043c\u044b<\/strong>) of the 1990s caused a drop in many people’s standard of living. According to Demoscope<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\u0412 1992-1993 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0301\u0445 \u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442 \u0447\u0438\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0301 \u0431\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b \u0441\u043b\u0435\u0301\u0434\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438\u0435\u043c \u043b\u0438\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0430\u043b\u0438\u0437\u0430\u0301\u0446\u0438\u0438 \u0446\u0435\u043d, \u0432 \u0440\u0435\u0437\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0435 \u0447\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0301 \u0440\u0435\u0430\u0301\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0301\u0434\u044b \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0434\u0430\u043d \u0441\u043d\u0438\u0301\u0437\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c \u043d\u0430 40%.<\/p>\n

[In 1992-1993, the number of poor people went up due to price liberalization, and people’s real income<\/a> went down 40 percent as a result.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ruble

Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

When the tide turned in the 2000s, many saw that as Putin’s achievement. You can read more about this attitude in this English\u00a0article by Julia Ioffe<\/a>. According to the\u00a0BBC<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\u041f\u043e\u0447\u0442\u0438\u0301 \u0432\u0441\u0435 \u0433\u043e\u0301\u0434\u044b \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043b\u0435\u0301\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u0301\u043c\u0438\u0440\u0430 \u041f\u0443\u0301\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u0440\u0435\u0430\u0301\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0301\u0435\u043c\u044b\u0435 \u0434\u0435\u0301\u043d\u0435\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0301\u0434\u044b \u0440\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u044f\u0301\u043d \u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0438\u0301, \u0445\u043e\u0442\u044f\u0301 \u0438 \u0441 \u0440\u0430\u0301\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430\u0301\u043c\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0439.<\/p>\n

[Russians’ real disposable income<\/a> went up almost every year of Vladimir Putin’s reign, albeit at different rates.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An article in the Financial Times<\/a> also notes that “[g]rowth during the Putin era lifted large parts of society out of poverty, helped Russians become healthier and live longer, and created a taste for the spoils of middle-class life such as overseas travel” but points out that that growth might have stemmed from high oil prices rather than effective governance. However, what’s called \u0441\u0442\u0430\u0431\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c<\/strong> (stability) has been promoted as Putin’s success.<\/p>\n

Criticism<\/h2>\n
\"stack

Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Putin’s style of governing is not without its critics, who point out a crackdown on the free press and widespread human rights violations. For example, Human Rights Watch has found<\/a>\u00a0that<\/p>\n

[…] \u043f\u043e\u0301\u0441\u043b\u0435 \u043c\u0430\u0301\u0441\u0441\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0435\u0301\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0432 2011\u20132012 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0301\u0432 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u0438\u0301\u043b\u043e \u043a \u00ab\u0437\u0430\u043a\u0440\u0443\u0301\u0447\u0438\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044e \u0433\u0430\u0301\u0435\u043a\u00bb \u2014 \u0431\u043e\u0440\u044c\u0431\u0435\u0301 \u0441\u043e \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0438\u0301\u043c\u0438 \u043a\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430\u043c\u0438 \u043f\u043e\u0434 \u0432\u0438\u0301\u0434\u043e\u043c \u0431\u043e\u0440\u044c\u0431\u044b\u0301 \u0441 \u044d\u043a\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0438\u0301\u0437\u043c\u043e\u043c \u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043d\u044f\u0301\u0442\u0438\u044e \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0301\u043d\u043e\u0432, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0301\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u200b\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0301\u0447\u0438\u0432\u0430\u044e\u0442 \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0301\u0434\u0443 \u0441\u043b\u043e\u0301\u0432\u0430 \u0438 \u0438\u043d\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430\u0301\u0446\u0438\u0438.<\/p>\n

[…] after the mass protests of 2011\u20132012, the government has started “tightening the bolts” \u2014 fighting its critics under the guise of fighting extremism by passing laws that limit freedom of speech and information.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So why do Russians put up with that? There may be many answers from the desire to have a strong leader to nationalism to tolerance for corruption to lack of choice to voter apathy. In the opinion of the Russian journalism Aleksandr Plushev<\/a> (\u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0434\u0440 \u041f\u043b\u044e<\/span>\u0449\u0435\u0432<\/strong>),<\/p>\n

[…] \u043f\u043e \u043d\u0435\u043a\u043e\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0301\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0434\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0301\u0440\u0443, \u043d\u0435\u0433\u043b\u0430\u0301\u0441\u043d\u043e \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0451\u043d\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0432 \u043d\u0430\u0447\u0430\u0301\u043b\u0435 \u043d\u0443\u043b\u0435\u0432\u044b\u0301\u0445, \u043c\u044b \u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0435\u043d\u044f\u0301\u043b\u0438 \u0443\u0447\u0430\u0301\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0435 \u0432 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u0301\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0436\u0438\u0301\u0437\u043d\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u0431\u0438\u0301\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0301\u043f\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0443\u0301\u043a\u0442\u044b.<\/p>\n

[…] according to a social contract of sorts, which we implicitly entered in the early aughts, we traded our participation in politics for stability and easily available food.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do you think? What do your Russian family and friends say?\u00a0As always, please be courteous to your fellow readers and the blog team in your comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Painting

Because politics is often the only aspect of Russian life that gets covered in the media abroad, I have made it a point to share other stories about Russia on this blog \u2014 from recent Russian films you can stream to renting an apartment\/flat in Russia. At the same time, as Vladimir Putin (\u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u041f\u0443\u0442\u0438\u043d)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":10570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[57819,1264],"class_list":["post-10561","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-putin","tag-russian-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10561"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10574,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10561\/revisions\/10574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}