Abstract: The results of sociological surveys conducted within the framework of the International Social Research Program are analyzed. The aim of the work is to identify the peculiarities of Russians' perception of environmental security challenges, in comparison with the perceptions of residents of other states. Environmental safety is considered as an integral part of national security. The important role of sociological surveys as a tool for providing feedback to the population is noted. The views of Russians about the importance of the problem of the state of the environment are considered. The method of collecting primary sociological information is a formalized face–to-face interview conducted at the respondents' place of residence. A multi-stage random sample represents the adult population of the country. It is stated that environmental issues are not among the most acute and urgent problems for the population. In Russia, problems related to economic and physical security come to the fore. At the same time, the reflection of the urgency of the problem in the public consciousness is dissonant with the data of objective environmental control. The existence of a strong connection between the level of economic development of the country and the importance of the environmental problem for the population is revealed. It is concluded that the differences in assessments are largely related to the transformations of value attitudes, the transition from survival values to self-expression values, egocentric and humanistic perception of threats. It is noted that in the mass consciousness of Russians, challenges and threats that directly affect the population, related to the current state of the environment, are being actualized. Among the most serious challenges to environmental safety, residents of the country most often mention air pollution, household waste disposal and water pollution. At the same time, the potential environmental threat fades into the background. Climate change is much less often considered by Russians as the main challenge to environmental security. It is stated that the differences in the perception of challenges are largely due to the relatively low level of ecological culture of the country's population.

Abstract: This article analyzes the data of international sociological project – “European Social Research”. Availability of education is viewed as a determinant for public assessment of the state of national system of education. One of the potential indicators of availability of education is a subjective assessment of the presence of equal chances for receiving the desired level of education among residents of the country. Special attention is paid to comparison of assessments given by the Russian and residents of other European countries. The author underlines the importance of carrying out surveys on this topic, as a feedback channel, which allows determining public assessment of the effectiveness of reforms conducted in educational sphere. It is noted that European countries greatly differ depending on the public assessment of the national system of education. The Russians rate the state of national system of education lower than other countries participating in the project. It is concluded that the Russian system of education does not fully meet the demands and requests of the population. The author determines that comparing to the majority of European countries, availability of education in the Russian Federation receives relatively low ratings of the Russians. Since in in participating countries, availability of education is a determinant of public assessment of the state of national system of education, it is claimed that the higher is the subjective assessment, the more positive is the assessment of the state of national system of education overall. In Russia, the established correlation on the European scale is relatively strong, which testifies to the fact that availability of education comes to the forefront among the problems of national system of education.

Abstract: This research is based on the materials of the fifth wave of the cross-national sociological project “European Values Study”. The conceptual framework consists in the theory of a complex threat, describing the key components of the perceived threat that lead to prejudice between social groups. The subject of this research is the peculiarities of the perception of migration by native population as a potential threat to the security of the accepting society. Special attention is paid to the description of current migration situation in Europe. The article reviews the realistic and symbolic threats of migration through the prism of public opinion of the native population. It is stated that the European countries significantly differ depending on perception of migration threats by the native population. The author notes that population of the countries with developed economy mostly do not feel competition with the migrants on the job market. A conclusion is made that in the conditions of Russia’s unstable national economy and pressure of sanctions, the migrants seem to Russians as a serious threat on the job market. It is evident that in the European countries the migrants are largely perceived as a source of criminality. The research determines the factors affecting rejection of migrants in modern Russia. The author offers the typology of European countries based on peculiarities of perception of migration threats by the native population.

Abstract: This article analyzes the data of cross-country sociological projects – the European social research. The goal of this work lies in determination of the level of trust of the Russian citizens in the national judicial and legal system. Special attention is given to the comparison of assessment of the Russians and residents of other European states. The author examines the dynamic of trusts of the Russian in judicial system and the factors affecting the level of population’s trust; as well as analyzes the sources of the low level of trust of the Russian in judiciary. Surveys were conducted in the European countries; the method of raw information collection – personal interview. The correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied in the course of this research. A comparably low level of trust of the Russian citizens in judicial system is determined. However, on the overall negative background, the trust of citizens in judiciary has slightly grown since 2006, and by 2016 reached its peak value over the entire observation period. It is determine that the factors influencing the citizens’ trust to court include the age, income level, content with general situation in the country. The author underlines that in Russia, unlike the majority of European countries, the correlation between the level of education and population’s tryst in the judicial and legal system, is not detected. Lack of trust of the Russian in justice institutions is substantiated by negative assessment of the work of the courts and a set of interrelated factor, such as: violation of the principle of autonomy of judiciary, cases of corruption in judicial system, and delivering a false verdict.

Abstract: This article analyzes the results of comparative sociological study – the “European Social Survey”. The goal lies in determination of the level of concern of the Russian citizens with the various aspects of country’s energy security, in comparison with assessments of the residents of other European states. Energy security is viewed as a crucial component of national security. The author substantiates the need for using sociological methods for studying this topic; as well as examines the peculiarities of assessment given by Russia’s population to sustainability and reliability of energy supply, affordability of energy, dependence of national electric power on fossil fuel, etc. For collecting raw sociological information, the author applied the method of personal in-home interview; age of the respondents is 15 years and above. Factor and correlation analysis were used in the course of this study. The author observes contradictions between the declared as a component of energy security sustainability alongside reliability of population’s energy supply and significant concern of the Russian citizens with the aforementioned aspects of energy security. The conducted correlation analysis demonstrates that the smaller is the locality, the greater is population’s concern with sustainability and reliability of energy supply. Among the European countries, Russia marks the highest level of population’s concern with possible power cut or power outage due to technical failures. It is determined that the source of population’s concern is the financial affordability of electric power. The author pursues correlation between the financial affordability with financial situation of the surveyed families. It is stated that unlike the residents of the majority of countries taking part in the project, the Russians do not see the dependence of national electric power on fossil fuel as a problem.

Abstract: This article analyzes the results of the comparative sociological research– “European Social Survey”. The goal is to determine the representations of Russians and residents of other European countries on the financial situation of pensioners. Particular attention is given to consideration of assessments of the pensioners themselves. Financial situation of the retirees is viewed as one[WU1]  of the criterion of assessment of pension system by the population. The representations of population are considered in correlation with indexes of the national pension systems – the coefficient of pension substitution and government expenditure with pension payments as percentage of GDP. The survey was conducted in European countries among the population ages 15 and above in accordance with representative selection. It is determined that the European countries are differentiated based on the population assessment of the financial situation of retirees. On the pan-European background, the residents of Russian assess the financial situation of retirees as extremely low. It is stated that the pensioners, in comparison with other Russians, demonstrate a more pessimistic assessment. The assessment of financial situation of pensioners of the country by the respondents-pensioners statistically significant relates to self-esteem of their financial situation. It is noted that in perception of the Russians, the national pension system does not successfully perform the function of providing decent standard of living to the dependent members of society. The author substantiates the need for consideration of the results of sociological surveys in assessing the effectiveness of pension system.



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