Dudin I.V. Youth on the ways of development of Russia: opinions and their factors. Journal of Institutional Studies. 2026. Vol. 18. No. 1. Pp. 109–128.

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: https://www.hjournal.ru/journals/journal-of-institutional-studies/2026-god/351-nomer-1/2885-molodezh-o-putyakh-razvitiya-rossii-differentsiatsiya-vzglyadov-i-opredelyayushchie-ikh-faktory.html (дата обращения 12.10.2026)

Abstract

Understanding how youth relate to the current course of the country's development and how they see its future is especially important when planning public policy. Taking into account the importance of this issue in the conditions of aggravation of external challenges for Russia, the article shows the peculiarities of the Russian youth's perception of the current path of Russia's development and the factors that determine it, based on the data of the representative all-Russian survey of the IS FCTAS RAS for 2024. It is demonstrated that despite the difficult time for the country about 80% of young Russians are convinced that the current path of Russia's development will eventually bring positive results. At the same time, the part of young people who are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in the country form their opinion based on the internal Russian situation and intergroup contradictions typical for the Russian society, and not because of sympathy for the West. It has also been established that depending on the peculiarities of world outlook and political views, young people are divided into two groups in their assessments of Russia's future. The first group is the group loyal to the authorities, for which it is important to preserve the norms and rules established in the Russian society. The second group opposes the authorities, is dissatisfied with the current situation in Russia, and is more often oriented toward the West than representatives of the first group. However, the key to belonging to these groups that see Russia's future differently is the different prevalence of individualistic attitudes among their members. The personal experience of a young person, especially his or her assessment of local changes, his or her life in general, and satisfaction with government assistance, plays a special role in forming an opinion about Russia's future. It is very important that the predominantly statist views of the country's young citizens do not differ significantly from other Russians; this proves the stable reproduction of statism as an informal foundation of social institutions in post-Soviet Russia.