Table 1. Russians feel freer than under the old regime
Q. Compared to our system of government before perestroyka, would you say that our current system is better, much the same, or not so good as the old system in regard to whether:
	1993	94	96	96	98	00	00	01	04	Change
	(percent)
Everybody has freedom of choice in religious matters
Better	71	83	80	80	79	83	84	88	84	13
Much the same	29	15	17	16	16	14	14	11	14	-15
Worse	6	2	3	4	5	2	2	1	2	-4
Everybody has a right to say what they think
Better	65	73	74	76	73	79	81	78	81	16
Much the same	27	18	21	20	21	15	13	16	16	-11
Worse	8	8	6	4	6	5	6	6	3	-5
One can join any organization one likes
Better	63	77	82	79	75	77	76	81	83	20
Much the same	28	18	14	15	18	16	17	15	12	-16
Worse	9	5	3	5	7	6	6	4	5	-4
Everyone can decide individually whether or not to take an interest in politics
Better	57	62	69	63	66	70	73	81	76	19
Much the same	39	33	27	32	27	23	23	16	20	-19
Worse	4	5	4	4	7	6	4	3	3	-1
Source: New Russia Barometers II to XIII

Table 2. Trends in the evaluation of regimes
Q. Here is a scale evaluating how well our political system works. The top, plus 100, is the best and the bottom, minus 100, is the worst. Where on this scale would you put:
	1992	93	94	95	96a	96b	98	00a	00b	01	03a	03b	04	Change
	(percent)
Q. The political system before perestroyka?
Positive	50	62	51	67	59	60	72	73	70	72	70	70	65	15
Neutral	13	12	13	15	19	10	9	10	7	11	8	9	8	-5
Negative	37	26	36	18	22	30	18	16	22	17	21	22	27	-20
Mean	7	18	4	28	22	17	32	36	31	34	29	29	24	17
St dev	54	57	58	51	55	58	53	52	55	50	53	54	53	-1
Q. Our present system of governing?
Positive	14	36	35	26	28	38	36	39	37	47	57	64	65	41
Neutral	12	14	16	20	26	16	16	15	14	16	11	10	10	-2
Negative	74	49	48	54	46	47	48	45	48	37	32	25	25	-49
Mean	-41	-16	-13	-24	-19	-12	-16	-11	-13	-2	4	14	12	53
St dev	44	51	51	49	48	48	50	55	51	50	48	47	42	-2
Q. The system of governing we will have in five years?
Positive	50	52	49	40	43	57	49	64	72	62	65	72	88	38
Neutral	13	24	33	28	37	17	22	19	13	17	14	14	4	-9
Negative	37	24	17	31	20	25	29	17	15	21	21	14	8	-29
Mean	2	10	15	0	8	14	7	25	26	20	21	33	43	41
St dev	52	53	48	49	45	54	51	50	44	50	51	47	37	-15
Source: New Russia Barometers II to XIII

Table 3. Trends in the evaluation of the economic system
Q. Here is a scale evaluating how well an economy works. The top, plus 100, is the best and the bottom, minus 100, is the worst. Where on this scale would you put:
	92	93	94	95	96a	96b	98	00a	00b	01	03a	03b	04	Ch
%
Q. The economic system before the start of perestroika?
Positive	62	75	61	79	72	71	81	83	82	80	76	73	70	8
Neutral	12	9	12	10	14	11	8	7	5	7	5	5	8	-4
Neg.	26	16	27	11	14	20	11	10	13	13	19	22	21	-5
Mean	19	37	16	44	37	32	44	47	45	44	34	33	29	10
Std dev.	50	50	53	45	48	52	45	43	56	46	50	53	51	1
Q. Our present economic system?
Positive	9	29	14	16	22	29	31	31	29	41	52	57	60	51
Neutral	9	14	10	15	19	11	13	10	10	12	11	10	9	0
Neg.	82	56	76	68	58	60	56	59	62	47	37	32	30	-52
Mean	-51	-24	-46	-39	-29	-25	-26	-27	-30	-12	-2	5	8	59
Std dev	40	48	46	46	48	51	50	54	51	51	47	48	41	1
Q. Our economic system in five years time?
Positive	42	51	44	37	40	52	45	58	64	61	66	71	85	43
Neutral	18	23	25	24	33	15	20	17	12	13	11	13	6	-12
Neg.	40	26	31	40	27	33	34	24	24	27	22	16	9	-31
Mean	-3	9	1	-11	2	5	0	14	16	16	19	30	39	42
Std dev.	53	53	54	52	48	57	53	53	51	52	49	46	37	-16
Source: New Russia Barometers I to XIII

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