Two dimensions of political trust in Russia

This paper analyzes two dimensions of factors of political trust in Russia. The first is the target dimension (sociotropic vs. egocentric) and the second is the time dimension (retrospective vs. perspective). The study uses microdata from the 2016 Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. We find robust evidence favoring the dominant sociotropic channel of political trust. Thus, individuals, when deciding whether or not to trust the Russian government, are primarily guided by improvements in the external environment. Moreover, we find that the impact of sociotropic factors on political trust depends on the level of government. Improvements in political performance are the most important determinant of trust in the Russian president, while institutional change and economic development are the most important determinants in models of trust for other governmental levels. Finally, we find that individuals who have lost their wealth show more trust than those who have preserved or increased it. However, this effect only works if individuals are optimistic about the future.