Religion and politics in Russia

1. Religion and politics in Russia IAPC-Barcelona, 39th World Conference “A Struggle for identity”

2. CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….3 METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………………………...………… 4 How religious are contemporary Russiancitizens?.................................…………....5 Religious values in the Russian mass consciousness ……………………………….10 Religious organizations and their participation in the political process …………..14 Moral aspects of politics ……………………………………………………………...…….19 Religionas the way of promoting politics………………………………………………..22 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………24

3. Introduction In the core of political behavior, as well as of any other public activity, lay the basic society values. These values are formed by the world outlook of the citizens and such is based either on religious or philosophical postulates. Thus, we can define two aspects in which religion affects political sphere of society life: • Direct – by influencing political processesof religious organizations (Church) and religion-based communities. • Indirect – through attitudes which form the system of values. The goal of our researchis to analyze religious influence on the political sphere of contemporary Russian society, as well as to evaluate further development of this aspect.

4. METHODOLOGY The outlines given in the presentationwere gatheredas a result of All-Russia representativesurveysby «Bashkirova and partners» in 2004 – 2006. TARGETED GROUP : Russian citizens METHOD:face-to-face interviews by random route SAMPLE:N=1500 REGIONS:7 federal districts International projects «World Values Survey» and «European Values Survey» were used as areference.

5. How religious are contemporary Russian citizens?

6. How religious are contemporary Russian citizens? Do you belong to a religiousconfession? n=1500

7. How religious are contemporary Russian citizens? Apart from weddings, funerals and christenings, how often do you attend religious services these days? Decreasedby 2 times for the past 6 years n=1500

8. How religious are the modern Russian citizens? Apart from weddings, funerals and christenings, about how often do you attend religious services these days?(Among the respondents who consider themselves to be Orthodox) 14,7%Orthodoxroutinelyattend religious services n=1500

9. AttitudeofRussians towards religion To which statement on the role of religion in your life will you agree? To You the religion means: (Because respondents could give several answers the sum of meanings is mot equal to 100%). n=1500

10. Religion values in Russian mass consciousness

11. Values of Russians The results of theWorld Values Surveyconducted in 1999 allowed to build the following hierarchy of values for Russians: n=1500

12. Christian values To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:Christian values are at the heart of modern Russian values? 44% 44% n=1500

13. Christian values Which values in your opinion are Christian and which aren’t? n=1500

14. Religious organizations and their participation in the political process

15. Trust to public institutions To what extent do you trust state and public institutions? • Можно констатировать слабое знакомство значительной части респондентов с национальными традициями быта. n=1500

16. Influence of religious leaders on politics How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Religious leaders should not influence government? Presently the respondents tend to give univocal answers more frequently n=1500

17. Influence of religious leaders on politics How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Religious leaders should not influence how people vote in elections Presently the respondents tend to give univocal answers more frequently n=1500

18. The role of church in society To your opinion, which important issues of society life can be discussed and solved with participation of religious organizations (Church)? (Because respondents could give several answers the sum of meanings is not equal to 100%). n=1500

19. Moral aspects of politics

20. Moral aspects of politics How much do you agree or disagree to the following statement: Politicians disbelieving in God are misfit for public office Presently the respondents tend to give univocal answers more frequently n=1500

21. Moral aspects of politics To what extent do you agree or disagree to the statement: It would be better for Russia to have more truly religious peoplein power. Presently the respondents tend to give univocal answers more frequently n=1500

22. Religionas the way of promoting politics

23. Religionas the way of promoting politics Religionas the way of promoting politics The use of religious factorfor increasing the support level of state power Islamic factor The use of religious factorsfor influencing the electoral behavior of pollers

24. Conclusions • The majority of Russians consider themselves to be religious. The most widespread confession of Russia is the Orthodox Christianity. The number of church members (those regularly attending services, fasting, etc.) totals 15%. • The rating of trust of the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the highest among major state and public institutions - 70,3%. • The most significant traditional values in the Russian society are family and work - in the minds of people they are true values of Christian character. • Russian citizens oppose the direct interference of religious organizations with the politics. Democracy along with other elements of the state structure is perceived as clearly secular sphere of social life. • The Russians see the main public mission of Churchas cultural development of society and education of the younger generation. • Russian citizenswould like to see religiously convinced politicians in goverment for they perceive it as a guarantee of their honesty and morality. • Thus, the religion is perceived as an intimate aspect of Russian life; however its basic role in the political life of Russia is to strengthen the morals, honesty and decency.

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