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Perceptions of the prime minister and federal ministers in the context of the new political reality

Solonenko A.V. ,

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, solonenkoalexandra@yandex.ru

ORCID: 0009-0000-8173-9664 | RESEARCHER_ID: QIR-9139-2026

Article received: 2024.12.03 10:47. Accepted: 2025.12.17 10:48


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2026.04.09
EDN: NCWKKS

Rubric: Russia today

For citation:

Solonenko A.V. Perceptions of the prime minister and federal ministers in the context of the new political reality. – Polis. Political Studies. 2026. No. 4. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2026.04.09. EDN: NCWKKS (In Russ.)

Abstract

The article presents the findings of a study examining how Russian citizens perceive the prime minister and federal ministers under contemporary conditions. The study seeks to identify the specific features of the perception of politicians in the context of the new political reality, which has led to profound transformations both within Russia and in the broader world order. This issue remains insufficiently explored, as political psychology contains only a limited number of studies devoted to the images of federal ministers and the prime minister. The research was conducted in 2023–2024 in Moscow, the Bryansk Region and the Chelyabinsk Region. The study employed in-depth focused interviews, fixed associations with animals, colours and smells, as well as visual material in the form of a black-and-white photograph of a politician presented to respondents. The author concludes that the unstable political environment observed since February 2022 has had a decisive impact on citizens’ perceptions of the prime minister and federal ministers, shaping specific public expectations of them. The problem of the low level of public recognition of federal ministers remains relevant and appears to stem from their uneven presence in the media space. At the same time, the decisions made by the prime minister and ministers have become more visible and more directly connected to citizens’ everyday lives, reflecting a positive trend toward reducing the distance between society and political authorities. Overall, the level of public approval of the activities of the prime minister and federal ministers remains relatively high, although respondents identified a number of issues related to the extent to which particular politicians are suited to their positions.

Keywords

political perception, images of ministers, new political reality, crisis management, Mikhail Mishustin, Sergey Lavrov, Anton Siluanov.

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