#025 - Russian Public Opinion After the Duma Elections with Timothy Frye and Samuel Greene

How do we know what Russians really think?

Timothy Frye of Columbia University and Samuel Greene of King’s College London join Michael Kimmage and Maria Lipman for The Long View to examine Russian public opinion following the September Duma elections. Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia, while Greene is Professor of Russian Politics at King’s College London.

The conversation explores what the elections can tell us about Russian society, attitudes toward the government and the war in Ukraine, and the relationship between public opinion and political power.

Frye and Greene also examine the challenge at the heart of researching contemporary Russia: how can public opinion be measured and interpreted in an authoritarian political environment? They consider the strengths and limitations of polling, elections, and other evidence used to understand what Russians think.

Together, the discussion asks not only what Russian public opinion is, but how confidently researchers can assess it and what those findings can tell us about politics and society in Russia.

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