Putin's Approval Rating Hits All-Time High at 87% -- Mashable
Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval ratings soared to an all-time high of 87% this week, leaving just 13% of his countrymen and women shaking their heads at the man who's helped send eastern Europe into crisis.
President Putin's high rating comes on the heels of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 — hit by a rocket believed to be fired by pro-Russian rebels using a system provided by Russia — and as thousands of Russian troops amass at Ukraine's border.
The numbers come from a poll released by the Levada Center, a fiercely independent Russian polling and research organization.
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My Comment: I am not a Putin fan .... I am one of those 13% who does not like Russia's current political direction. Having said that .... it is true that Putin is enjoying enormous public support in Russia .... which is (historically speaking) unprecedented. When I talk politics with my family/friends/and associates in Russia .... I am the lonely voice in the wilderness .... a condition that is nothing new to me but it is still disquieting. Why all of this support? I credit Putin's ability to deliver on many of his economic promises for the past 15 years (the standard of life has improved immeasurably for most Russians and he is getting the credit for it ), and his ability to communicate clearly his positions which most of the time reflects the public sentiment. It is also true that Russians now fear that they under threat .... a threat that is to them not justified. They have circled the wagons and Putin has brilliantly positioned himself to be in the middle of this circle. Can he enjoy this type support for the long term ... probably not .... but his support is there .... no question about that.
8 comments:
What percentage of Russian citizens are in favor of armed intervention in Ukraine? And how do you think that would affect Putin's rating?
Most Russians are against intervention. Case in point .... I read in one Russian publication a few weeks ago that this number is around 55%. Putin also follows polls, and he has mirrored this sentiment in his public remarks. He moves the soldiers to the border and makes threats and warnings .... but no overt military intervention.
But there is a caveat .... if the conflict turns into a bloodbath with thousands killed and a million plus refugees .... support for intervention climbs to 80% if not higher.
The drunkenness of a nation ends with the handover of a nation. And the sobering up starts with the arrival of the bill.
Putin crossed a line, and all Russians will have to pay for not stopping him, regardless of whether they support him entirely or not.
What JW Bush did to USA Putin will do to Russia, only starting from a much worse position - with regard to economy, international prestige, military might, technology, etc.
WNU Editor, how much of Putin's support do you think is real, and what part of it is fake, and generated by fear from repressions?
Putin is increasing propaganda, tightening censorship and creating legislation, which outlaws any dissent and opposition. These are not the actions of someone, who is confident in his people's support. These are the actions of someone in a hurry to create a separate reality, because the real world situation is rapidly deteriorating for him.
It's a trap in which many authoritarian rulers fall - they ban "bad news", criticism and dissent and start living in a made-up world of constant success. They start believing in their own invulnerability and huge popularity, and one day may end up in jail or hanging from a lamp post only hours after the last show of "eternal loyalty" from their people. Take for example Bulgarian communist leader Todor Zhivkov - for 35 years he ruled with Kremlin's approval and had a 99% popularity, but the day he was deposed by his deputies in a Kremlin-approved palace coup nobody raised a hand or said a word to protect him. And he was supposed to be adored by the people and feared by his enemies for decades.
Democracies, on the other hand, may look shaky with their <50% support, but at least they know where they stand, and people have an outlet for their frustrations in the media, so real attitudes can be gauged much more easily, and appropriate action taken when critically low level of real support is reached.
Putin's ratings are soo high because they don't count the people who would give him low ratings. It's a joke, a biased illusion!
Good question Pavlik. In my own case I grew up in the old Soviet Union and none of us believed the news .... and more to the point .... we were all skeptical of what Soviet leaders were saying.
In today's Russia .... the internet is wide open and Russians have access to news reports that are not filtered and controlled by Moscow. Case in point .... Russian social media. It is a free-for-all of opinions and discussion and no one is holding back.
In Putin's case .... I will reluctantly admit that a good chunk of his support is genuine .... and much of it is because of the economy and expanding government social services. He is a politician who caters to his base, and his base are the seniors, pensioners, nationalists, religious groups, and Russia's growing entrepreneur class.
Censoring opponents and criticism is where opposition to Putin is overwhelming .... Russians .... like everyone else ... do not like to be told on what to do. But the crisis in Ukraine and fears of war is what is now on the minds of most Russian .... and as I have mentioned before the Russians are circling the wagons and Putin has placed himself in it's center.
This crisis will be over one day .... and I do expect opposition to Putin to rise. But for now .... he is enjoying this burst of popularity.
Andrew .... I would also love to know how this poll was sampled. My suspicion is that it may be skewed to give a certain result. But from a personal observation it is true that among my many family, friends, and associates in Russia .... and we are talking a lot of people .... I am the only Putin critic out of about 100. Before the Ukraine crisis .... the Putin critics in my "entourage" was about 50-50.
WNU Editor, I think a big part of Putin's ability to position himself "in the center of the wagons" is his relentless propaganda and escalating repressive effort.
Like you said most people will give up some freedom as long as they get something in return - money, psychological satisfaction, sense of security (regardless of whether it's justified or not), etc.
However is a matter of perception to say what people get out of a regime's actions, and perceptions are created by the mass media, and not by weak voices of truth in the internet drowned out by massive government-sponsored propaganda campaigns . And the mass media is controlled by Putin - directly or indirectly. So he tells people what they are getting in return for the sacrifices, that his policies impose on them. And that's why he's increasing propaganda and censorship - because costs for Russia are rising, and need to be justified, so only "good news" must be heard by the majority, and all the acts of the Leader must be seen as wise and successful, and all the costs and hardship - necessary, unavoidable, and caused by the Enemy.
So while I am sure that Putin enjoys a genuine support of way over 50% of Russians I'm not sure that would continue to be the fact should media and public speech be liberalized . And I know from experience that people having free access to the internet is not enough. I live in Bulgaria, which has been steadily dropping in the media freedom rankings of Reporters Without Borders, and for a good reason - social networks and online discussion forums are flooded with aggressive paid trolls, who gang up on anyone trying to hold a reasonable discussion or criticize Putin in any way, and all the major media (online and traditional) are either directly controlled by the government, by the oligarchs supporting the government, or are controlled by the promise of advertising and Euro-funds deals should they refrain from criticizing those in power and shedding light on their dirty dealings. So while in Bulgaria you won't go to jail for speaking out you will be subjected to a massive media campaign of character assassination, may find yourself harassed by investigations on trumped up charges, and your employer might pressure you to shut up, because you're losing business for him. It's not an extreme price, but it's still enough to dissuade most people , and exactly the majority is what those in power care about.
So Putin is right to step up crackdowns on dissenters, because now truth is his biggest enemy, and in Russia truth can be found only by digging deep under the mountains of propaganda which drown you by pouring from all directions and at all times - from billboards, TV, newspapers, websites, social media, and finally - from all the other people, who have been irradiated with overdoses of propaganda, and as a consequence have started to emit it themselves.
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