Are we listening enough to average Russians? Nope! Thread on @CarnegieRussia-@levada_ru focus groups on political change, enduring appeal of paternalism, "strong hand," govt control over economy, wealth redistribution 1/ carnegie.ru/2021/01/14/how… @AndrKolesnikov/D.Volkov/A.Levinson 
Anger over official corruption was a constant theme. But not necessarily in the way you'd expect -- eg the desire for Chinese-style solutions and "Stalinist methods" among tradition-minded participants. 2/
These folks support Putin's foreign policy, no questions asked. But they want the government to pivot to addressing domestic ills laid bare by the pandemic. 3/
The people we spoke to were uniformly negative in their views of the current government, regardless of where they sit on the political spectrum. But ... 4/
...few could articulate alternative agendas that might improve things. What remained was a pervasively gloomy mood mixed w inertia, fatalism & resignation about the possibility of changes even tho there's a desire for fresh faces who can put Russia on a different trajectory END
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