Ordinary citizens mainly use online services provided by government bodies.
MOSCOW, February 16, 2018. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a study devoted to citizens’ interaction with the government bodies.
The levels of openness of the government bodies are perceived in a different way. The shares of respondents who consider that no changes have happened over the last years are 39% for federal ministries and bodies, 40% for regional governments and 44% for local municipal bodies. At the same time, positive assessments exceed negative assessments; greater openness is reported by 32%-35% for different public bodies compared to two or three years ago, while the percentage of negative assessments is 9%-12%.
Russians say that the key openness indicators are absence of corruption (35%), an opportunity to have a face-to-face contact with the bodies ’representatives (21%), online services (20%), and a fast feedback (20%).
Respondents often search for information about the work of the local government bodies (29%) rather than about the regional government activities (17%) or federal ministries and bodies (18%). Most of Russians report that their search requests were satisfied but only requests related to federal bodies were most fully satisfied (36% found everything they searched for). More than half of respondents who found what they were looking for say that they did not face any difficulties while searching.
Citizens interact with government bodies primarily via the Internet; 49% use online services, 32% use mobile applications, and 35% visit official websites. Various online services (used by 52%) and official websites (44%) has been the main platform for interactions between citizens and government bodies over the recent year; a further 33% used mobile applications. Thirty-six percent of respondents visited public institutions in person.
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on February 12, 2018. The survey involved 1,000 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 3.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
In your opinion, over the recent two or three years have the government bodies become more open/less open or remained the same? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of all respondents) | ||||||
| Definitely more open | Likely more open | Likely less open | Definitely less open | Nothing has changed | Don’t know |
Federal ministries and agencies | 9 | 26 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 17 |
Government of your region | 9 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 40 | 15 |
Municipal authorities of your area | 9 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 44 | 13 |
The openness of the government bodies (ministries, agencies, public institutions, et cet.) has been widely discussed in Russia lately. Now I will read certain features of the public bodies’ openness. In your opinion, which features are the most important? Name three or less features. (closed-ended question, not more than 3 answers, % of all respondents) | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2018 |
Absence of corruption in government agencies | 26 | 31 | 35 |
Opportunity to make an appointment with the government body representative | 15 | 17 | 21 |
Opportunity to get services provided by government bodies online | 28 | 30 | 20 |
Prompt response to queries, complaints, proposals | 21 | 24 | 20 |
Hot line service | 31 | 30 | 16 |
Opportunity to file a written or an oral query, complaint, proposal | 18 | 18 | 14 |
Availability of reports on government bodies’ activities | 18 | 19 | 14 |
Meetings with citizens to discuss various issues | 17 | 15 | 13 |
Availability of information on the government bodies’ agenda | 27 | 25 | 13 |
Availability of information about future activities, plans, decisions made, et cet. | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Various publications in mass media | 17 | 13 | 7 |
Conduct of public expert hearings | 5 | 5 | 4 |
Other | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Don’t know | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Have you searched for information on issues you are interested in or about government bodies over the recent year? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of all respondents) | |||
| Yes, I have | No, I have not | Don’t know |
Municipal authorities of your area | 29 | 69 | 2 |
Federal ministries and agencies | 18 | 79 | 4 |
Government of your region | 17 | 81 | 2 |
Did you manage to find the information you were interested in? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of those who have searched for information) | |||||
| I found all necessary information | I found most of information I needed | I only found some part of information | I did not find any information | Don’t know |
Federal ministries and agencies | 36 | 27 | 19 | 13 | 5 |
Municipal authorities of your area | 32 | 17 | 28 | 20 | 3 |
Government of your region | 26 | 24 | 29 | 13 | 8 |
Was it easy for you to find the information? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of those who found the information they needed) | ||||
| It was easy; there were no big difficulties | I experienced some difficulties | It was extremely difficult for me to find the information I needed | Don’t know |
Municipal authorities of your area | 61 | 32 | 3 | 4 |
Government of your region | 57 | 31 | 8 | 4 |
Federal ministries and agencies | 56 | 33 | 5 | 6 |
Have you interacted with the government bodies/public institutions over the recent year? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of all respondents) | |||
| Yes, I have | No, I have not | Don’t know |
Using online services | 52 | 47 | 1 |
Visiting official websites | 44 | 56 | 0 |
Visiting public bodies in person | 36 | 63 | 1 |
Using online services through mobile applications | 33 | 66 | 1 |
Calling hot line | 21 | 79 | 0 |
Sending official letters, queries, requests, et cet. | 20 | 79 | 1 |
Participating in public hearings, public events | 17 | 82 | 1 |
Do you have a need to go to government bodies or public institutions? Give an answer per each type of interaction (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of all respondents) | |||
| Rather yes | Rather not | Don’t know |
Using online services | 49 | 49 | 2 |
Visiting official websites | 35 | 63 | 2 |
Using online services through mobile applications | 32 | 66 | 2 |
Visiting public bodies in person | 24 | 73 | 3 |
Calling hot line | 23 | 75 | 2 |
Sending official letters, queries, requests, et cet. | 22 | 76 | 2 |
Participating in public hearings, public events | 20 | 77 | 3 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!