78% of respondents in a 2003 survey said that democracy is a facade for a government controlled by rich and powerful cliques. Only 22% expressed a preference for democracy; 53% disliked it.
Asked to choose between "freedom" and "order," 88% went for order. Only 11% would be unwilling to surrender their freedoms of speech, press, or movement in exchange for stability. 29% were prepared to give up their freedoms for nothing in return, because they attached no value to them. 76% of Russians favor restoring censorship over the mass media.
Asked in 1999 to list the ten greatest men of all times and nations, respondents named nine Russians. The only foreigner was Napoleon, perhaps because he was defeated on Russian soil.
The first five people on the list were Peter the Great, Lenin, Pushkin, Stalin, and the astronaut Iurii Gagarin. As to why they admired Stalin, people answered "He raised the country." When asked how they would like their country to be perceived by other nations, 48 % said "mighty, unbeatable, indestructible, a great world power."
74% of Russians regret the Soviet Union's passing. Only 12% regard the post-communist regime as "legitimate". In an October 2003 survey they were asked how they would react to a Communist coup: 23% would actively support it, 19 would collaborate, only 10% would actively resist.
(taken from "Flight from Freedom: What Russians Think and Want" by Richard Pipes, published in the May/June 2004 issue of Foreign Affairs)
