Democratic Values In Contemporary Russian Society

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of democratic values in contemporary Russian society. It is based on data from the research project Political Values and their Perception in Modern Russian Society, conducted by the Department of Sociology and Psychology of Politics of the Faculty of Political Science of Moscow State University in 2013–2016. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was the political-psychological approach.

The author discusses the hierarchy of democratic values in the minds of current citizens, paying particular attention to the socio-demographic factors (gender, age, education, region of residence) and party affi liations that determine citizens’ democratic orientation.

As a result of the analysis, the author reaches the conclusion that democratic values in Russian society are suffi ciently well understood and determine the citizens’ ideas that the democratic type of social structure is the best — the optimal variant. At the heart of a democratic society should be the values of freedom, human rights, legality and a strong state, the author concludes.