Autocratic Politics and War Support: Evidence from Russia

• In Event: Public Opinion under Autocracy: Evidence from Russia during War

Abstract

Why do people support war? We have seen many wars, but few surveys during wartime. Studies from the United States emphasize the nature of casualties, but we have little evidence of the determinants of war support from other settings and almost no evidence from autocracies. Further, these works typically only include data collected after the start of the war. This shortcoming may bias results in a variety of ways. In contrast, this study draws from panel data using surveys of 1000 Russian citizens conducted in January 2022 and the spring of 2023. Just one month prior to the war only 8 percent of Russians supported introducing troops to fight against the government in Kyiv, but this figure has soared since the start of the war. Why did some Russians change their minds? This study examines the demographic, attitudinal, and experiential roots of this large swing in public

Author

• Timothy Frye