I agree that the alleged Levada tracking poll is not to be found, and there appears to be some question as to what “Soviet” vs “Western” means. The Levada polls at russiavotes.org do NOT support the claim that “Soviet” is preferred to the present govt. However, a report at worldpublicopinion.org (July 10, 2006) does show that Russian citizens prefer (44 percent to 33 percent) a strong central govt vs a US-style liberal democracy.

So I think this is the defensible meaning of Arutnyan’s claim: that Russians prefer “centralized” democracy to “liberal” American models. In American usage, “centralized” is very often equated with “Soviet.” So I’m guessing that Arutnyan used the term that way. Thanks for sharing the additional resources.

As for the claim about who counts as the “real” opposition, your figure of 20 percent looks to be at the high end of public support for the CPRF/KPRF. What you say about the age of supporters is helpful. The point is, however, that the party is the most popular opposition.

Michael thinks it is not news that the Russian Communists agree with everybody else. Clearly he knows them better than I do. In the end, with all of Michael’s helpful qualifications and clarifications accepted, it appears that Arutnyan’s main points holds up: the Communists are the leading opposition in Russia, and Westerners who think “liberal democracy” is best for Russia should stop to consider that a plurality of Russians prefer a “centralized” model.

Contrary to the position taken in the Wall Street Journal, this is hardly a time to be lecturing Russian leadership on the need for less centralization.

Finally, did you notice the Aug. 12 poll on the Georgia conflict? Eighty percent of Russians polled think that South Ossetia should either be incorporated into Russia or given independent status. Only four percent say that it should remain a part of Georgia.

Thanks again.

Mr Moses doesn’t tell who the lady with the Armenian name is, so I googled her. She spent her childhood, and went to school, in the US, and had to learn Russia when she returned to Russia (sic!). Nowadays, she appears to work for an NGO in Russia (The Russian Institute) and all of those NGOs should be treated with caution, since they mainly specialise in trying to undermine Russian democracy.

As for the Levada Institute polls she refers to, I can find no trace of them! (Why am I not surprised?) Aberdeen University (UK) has a lot of Levada polls on line (I found this via Wikipedia) and I find the following. 5 – 10 October 2007: Q: On the whole, do you like or dislike the idea of returning to the Soviet political system? Like: 35%, Dislike: 44%, Don’t know: 21% and 18 – 21 January 2008: Q: What type of state would you want to see in Russia in the future? 1.State as in the West, with democratic system and market economy: 32%, 2.State with a unique system and own path of development: 39%, 3.Socialist state like the USSR: 17%, Don’t know: 11%. I can find no question anywhere about support, or otherwise, for a “Western” (i.e. American-style, as distinct from European-style) democracy, but the answers to those questions certainly give the communists a drubbing! Ms Arutunyan’s claims in that regard seem to be utterly false and probably come from manipulating the statistics. (Why am I not surprised?) You’ve been bamboozled, Mr Moses!

As for the precise comments of the communist grandpas, what do they say that the rest of the world hasn’t already been saying for a week? So Russia’s rump communists agree with everybody else! Boy, that’s sensational! Thanks for telling us Mr Moses!