This survey was carried out May 24–29, 2019 with a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample comprised 1616 people age 18 or older from 137 localities in 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
In May 2019, the Levada Center repeated it’s list of assessments (14 in total) from the project “the Soviet person.” The respondents could choose an answer from the survey card if they corresponded with their ideas about the Soviet Union or name something else (in 2019, these made up no more than 2% of answers from the entire sample set).
Table 1. Distribution of answers from the entire sample set
WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE HISTORICAL PATH OF OUR COUNTRY DURING THE SOVIET REGIME? (respondents could choose more than one answer and/or write in their own; ranked in descending order according to May 2019)
| Apr. 00 | Feb. 08 | May 19 | |
| The government’s concern for the common people | 37 | 29 | 59 |
| The lack of interethnic conflict, friendship between peoples | 44 | 40 | 46 |
| Successful economic development, the lack of unemployment | 39 | 31 | 43 |
| Steady improvement in people’s lives | 23 | 14 | 39 |
| The most advanced science and culture in the world | 22 | 21 | 31 |
| The guiding role of the Communist Party | 41 | 43 | 29 |
| Lines, deficits, ration cards | 34 | 42 | 24 |
| The country’s isolation from the outside world, the inability to go abroad and return | 25 | 24 | 17 |
| Poverty | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Persecution of dissidents, the KGB’s control over everyone | 20 | 14 | 13 |
| The absolute power of Party and government officials, bureaucracy | 14 | 13 | 9 |
| Lagging behind developed countries in production volume and quality | 13 | 13 | 9 |
| Persecution of the Orthodox Church and believers | 13 | 9 | 8 |
| Unsustainable military expenditures | 7 | 11 | 7 |
| Other answers | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| It is difficult to say | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Intensity | 348 | 325 | 354 |
Table 2. Distribution of answers from 100%; ranked in descending order according to 2019
| Apr. 00 | Feb. 08 | May 19 | |
| The government’s concern for the common people | 11 | 9 | 17 |
| The lack of interethnic conflict, friendship between peoples | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| Successful economic development, the lack of unemployment | 11 | 9 | 12 |
| Steady improvement in people’s lives | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| The most advanced science and culture in the world | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| The guiding role of the Communist Party | 12 | 13 | 8 |
| Lines, deficits, ration cards | 10 | 13 | 7 |
| The country’s isolation from the outside world, the inability to go abroad and return | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Poverty | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Persecution of dissidents, the KGB’s control over everyone | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| The absolute power of Party and government officials, bureaucracy | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Lagging behind developed countries in production volume and quality | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Persecution of the Orthodox Church and believers | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Unsustainable military expenditures | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Other answers | <1 | 1 | 1 |
| It is difficult to say | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Table 3. Generational peculiarities in people’s memory of the USSR; ranked in descending order according to the entire sample
| Total sample |
“Post-Soviet” | “Perestroika” | “Era of Stagnation” | “The Thaw” | |
| The government’s concern for the common people | 59 | 49 | 57 | 64 | 61 |
| The lack of interethnic conflict, friendship between peoples | 46 | 38 | 48 | 49 | 47 |
| Successful economic development, the lack of unemployment | 43 | 39 | 39 | 49 | 36 |
| Steady improvement in people’s lives | 39 | 29 | 38 | 46 | 41 |
| The most advanced science and culture in the world | 31 | 26 | 29 | 33 | 37 |
| The guiding role of the Communist Party | 29 | 31 | 31 | 28 | 25 |
| Lines, deficits, ration cards | 24 | 23 | 26 | 24 | 23 |
| The country’s isolation from the outside world, the inability to go abroad and return | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 9 |
| Persecution of dissidents, the KGB’s control over everyone | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 5 |
| Poverty | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 14 |
| The absolute power of Party and government officials, bureaucracy | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 4 |
| Lagging behind developed countries in production volume and quality | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 3 |
| Persecution of the Orthodox Church and believers | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| Unsustainable military expenditures | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Other | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| It is difficult to say | 5 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Intensity | 328 | 351 | 372 | 328 | |
Table 4. Answers by age and generation; ranked in descending order according to the “18–24” column
| Age Groups | Generational Groups | ||||||
| 18-24 | 25-39 | 40-54 | 55+ | “Perestroika” | “Era of Stagnation” | “The Thaw” | |
| The government’s concern for the common people | 30 | 36 | 32 | 19 | 39 | 32 | 15 |
| Steady improvement in people’s lives | 20 | 28 | 25 | 24 | 31 | 28 | 21 |
| Successful economic development, the lack of unemployment | 17 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 15 | -6 |
| The lack of interethnic conflict, friendship between peoples | 15 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 4 | -4 |
| The most advanced science and culture in the world | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 |
| Persecution of the Orthodox Church and believers | 0 | -2 | 0 | -4 | -1 | -2 | -6 |
| Persecution of dissidents, the KGB’s control over everyone | 0 | -3 | -2 | 1 | -3 | 0 | -6 |
| Lagging behind developed countries in production volume and quality | -1 | -6 | -6 | -1 | -4 | -5 | -6 |
| Poverty | -1 | -3 | 1 | 5 | -3 | 2 | 8 |
| The absolute power of Party and government officials, bureaucracy | -4 | -6 | -2 | -2 | -5 | -2 | -8 |
| The guiding role of the Communist Party | -6 | -14 | -15 | -18 | -9 | -18 | -22 |
| Unsustainable military expenditures | -6 | -4 | -1 | -7 | -2 | -7 | -3 |
| The country’s isolation from the outside world, the inability to go abroad and return | -8 | -12 | -4 | -3 | -10 | -5 | -9 |
| Lines, deficits, ration cards | -17 | -18 | -22 | -15 | -16 | -20 | -15 |
| Other | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| It is difficult to say | -2 | -4 | -1 | -3 | -9 | -2 | -1 |
| Intensity | 48 | 20 | 29 | 18 | 51 | 29 | -23 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents. Read the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here.