Over the past few years, there has been a
significant increase in the popularity rating of President Vladimir Putin among
Russians. According to Levada-Сenter -- one of the leading sociological
organizations in Moscow -- Putin's approval rate reached 89%, which is an
absolute record for contemporary Russia. Meanwhile, the latest parliamentary
elections to the State Duma ended up with one of the lowest turnouts of 47%
because of the critical attitude of the population to the legal system and
overall distrust of the deputies. Moreover, Russians are extremely dissatisfied
with the policy of the ruling party "United Russia": the public
usually calls it the President's party.
Thus, there is a unique situation when
Russians do not trust the President's party, but believe in the President. This
position is doubly paradoxical, as almost every citizen of Russia is sure that
all the decisions at all the levels are taken by the only man -- Vladimir
Putin.
For obvious reasons, this internal
political configuration may seem strange and contradictory. However, if we
analyze the Russian perception of a personality and political institutions, it
is possible to find a logical explanation.
Firstly, it should be stressed that
Russian history has always distinguished the tzar as the leader marked by God
from the boyars (note. historical name of Deputies) that have always sought
personal enrichment at the expense of the country and the people's interests.
In various historical literature and folklore, the tzar is introduced fighting
with the enemy, preserving the unity of the country and expanding its
territory. In other words, the President has to be a strong personality, able
to rule with an iron fist. The Russian mentality has always perceived the
leader's flexibility and indecisiveness as weakness that cannot be forgiven.
The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the first Russian President Boris
Yeltsin are considered weak rulers, because it is due to them that the world
doubted the strength and power of Moscow.
For a long time people have been waiting
for a new leader who would be able to restore Russia's greatness. Such a leader
-- Vladimir Putin -- became the new president that strangled separatism in the
North Caucasus, reformed and strengthened the institutions of power, defended
the interests of the Russian world in Ukraine and rebuffed the West in Syria.
The current Speaker of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, expressed
his view of Vladimir Putin, saying, "…there is Putin -- there is Russia;
there is no Putin -- there is no Russia." In turn, Alexander Dugin -- one
of the Russian leading foreign policy ideologists and the leader of the
Eurasian movement -- said "Putin is everywhere. Putin is everything. Putin
is absolute. Putin is irreplaceable." The last documentary entitled
"The President," which is dedicated to the fifteenth anniversary of
Vladimir Putin's rule, shows the current struggle of the Russian leader with
oligarchic clans that do not wish to see him in the Kremlin. Putin's closest
allies say that before his coming to power, these elites were set up on budget
cutting, stripping oddments of state property and its repartition among
themselves.
In addition, many people in the country
see Putin as a man who is capable of protecting the interests of the state and,
what is more important, releasing Russian Orthodox civilization from alien
Western elements. He often speaks about the special way of Russia, which is
based on respect for traditional values. Despite the existence of different
points of view, Russians commonly do not accept such phenomena as gender
equality or gay marriages. Of course, there are LGBT and feminist movements in
Russia, but the state's attitude to them should be condemnatory. In other
words, Russians are opposed to Western standards as the natural form of their
life. In this respect, Putin just gives the people what they want. Therefore,
the Parliament adopts the law against homosexual propaganda or announces the
ban on the adoption of Russian children by foreign citizens.
Moreover, many influential Russian experts
say that Putin's mission is to protect the "Russian world" and
conservative values around the world. Philosopher Ivan Ilyin identified the
main ideas of the Russian world: be Russian (spiritually), believe in God
(the interpretation of God in Ilyin's concept has both spiritual and ethical
senses), be a strong personality ("obedience to the tzar") etc.
Policymakers believe that full support for
the "Russian world" is an absolute foreign policy priority of Moscow.
This is recorded in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. Since
the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine and political affairs in Crimea and
Donbas, the term "Russian world" has been firmly established in the
lexicon of the representatives of the Kremlin. So, the Press Secretary, Dmitry
Peskov, giving comments on Ukraine, called Putin the guarantor of the
"Russian world." State-run media often write that the Russian
President enjoys great prestige and respect among conservatives worldwide
because of his ideological convictions and willingness to protect Russian
interests in the world.
In addition, Putin is often presented to
the Russian public as a successor of the Orthodox Byzantine emperors. He is the
first Russian leader, who annually visits Mount Athos in Greece that is sacred
for all Orthodox peoples. Last year the constituent assembly of "Byzantine
club" was held in the Russian Foreign Ministry's press center. The
founders say that the goal of the club is the adoption of Russia as a successor
to the great Byzantine civilization. Sergey Markov -- the President of the club
and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation -- said that
Russia is another Europe, for which not only law and economics matter, but also
spirituality. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia did not
break under the weight of the Mongol yoke and was able to get out of this
ordeal as a united state, that subsequently began to be viewed as a kind of
heir to the Byzantine Empire by the West and the East .
One of the articles published by Izborsk
Club -- an influential think-tank of Russian ultra-conservatives -- says that
Vladimir Putin became the hero of a multi-polar humanity and the main enemy of
unipolar pro-American liberal elites. Not surprisingly, many Russian
politicians from other branches of power like to say that Vladimir Putin's
personality is more important to society than the state institutions. This
image is reinforced by not only foreign policy achievements, but also by the
format of communication with the people. Thus, President Putin often holds
teleconferences directly answering the questions and taking the complaints of
the people across the country. During the live broadcasts, the President
punishes deputies, mayors and governors that ignored the problems of the
people. By establishing a direct dialogue with the people, Putin distances
himself from the bureaucratic class, which is not very popular among Russians.
Another important factor is the fear,
which sits deep in the majority of Russians. It is not that people are afraid of
Putin. On the contrary, they do not know what will happen to the country
without him. One of the traditional features of Russian history is deep
dependence of the unorganized majority of the population on the decisions of
influential people. Russia has never had institutions that would encourage the
formation of civil society, where every person builds his/her own life. The
average Russian is deeply convinced that his/her desire and activity are not
able to improve the country's development. Lack of faith in their own power
intersects with banal laziness and unwillingness of the majority to participate
in public and political life of their country.
On this basis, all hope has always been
attributed to the tzars or the Communist Party leaders or the presidents. The
current generation of Russians, passing through difficult times of crisis after
the collapse of the Soviet Union, wants to have a leader that will keep the
stable way of life, which is available today. According to the vast majority of
people, there is no leader in Russia, capable to become a worthy successor to
Putin, and without him life in the country will get worse. Thus, it may be
noted that President Putin is not perceived as a part of the political elite or
the chief of executive power. In the eyes of the vast majority of the
population, Putin is a new Missionary of God and the successor of Russian tsars
and Byzantine emperors.
Areg Galstyan, PhD, is a regular
contributor to The National Interest and Forbes and the head of the American
Studies Research Centre.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/why_do_russians_trust_putin.html#ixzz4SvhbsLZh
