The Levada Center is an internationally respected Russian survey research organisation. Independent and non-governmental, its history goes back to 1987, when the All Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) was founded, under the leadership of Academician Tatyana Zaslavskaya. In 2003 pressure from the authorities prompted a number of VCIOM’s leading researchers, led by the sociologist Yuri Levada (1930—2006), to leave and launch their own organisation. The Levada Center, which has carried on research started by VCIOM in the ‘90s, conducts regular polls on all aspects of Russian society and politics. Among its many publications is the bi-monthly Herald of Russian Public Opinion.
A majority of Russians – and not all of them opponents of Putin – demand modernisation. Yet the predominance of the bureaucratic classes and importance of informal favours in Putin’s Russia makes that a near impossible task. Paradoxically, the only way out for Putin may be to absorb his bureaucrats even further into the running of the country’s business affairs, argues Alexei Levinson.
The presidential election is still 6 months away, but speculation about who would stand i.e become president had reached fever pitch. A section of society really hoped that Medvedev would continue his liberal policies, even though signs that this could happen were few and far between. Now there is clarity – and disappointment, says Alexei Levinson
During the perestroika years there was much talk in Russia of the need for an act of repentance to assist people to come to terms with the Stalinist purges of 1936-7 and the ensuing years. There was no such act and a recent poll has revealed shifting perceptions of that period. But the victims are as much those left behind, marked for ever, as those who lost their lives, says Alexei Levinson
On the eve of Presidential elections, Dmitry Medvedev has sprung to life and inserted political distance between himself and Putin. Polls show Russians would like both leaders to stand for election, and to choose between them, but such a democratic development would be highly unusual for Russia, writes Alexei Levinson.
In the course of twelve months, Russians will go to the polls twice – first, the parliamentary elections and then the big one: the presidential. Comparisons between Medvedev at this stage of his presidency and his predecessors are interesting, explains Alexei Levinson. Yet the Putin-Medvedev situation is unique and it’s difficult to see how it might develop.
Russia-China
The new year in Russia
Russia's new economy
Russian rights at the crossroads
Beyond the gastarbeiter: post-Soviet migration
Madeleine Reeves (Manchester University, UK) presents the other side of post-Soviet migration.
Regions
Russia's year of elections
Women, tradition and power in the North Caucasus
Project_ID
Privatizatsiya, twenty years on
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
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