printEfficiency of the Social State:
Determinants of Institutional Trust and Political Stability Reserves
Velikaya N.M.
Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Prof., Deputy Director, Institute of Socio-Political Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of RAS, Moscow, Russia natalivelikaya@gmail.com
Sushpanova I.S.
Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Assoc. Prof., Leading Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of RAS, Moscow, Russia i.s.shushpanova@mail.ru
Velikaya N.M., Sushpanova I.S. Efficiency of the Social State: Determinants of Institutional Trust and Political Stability Reserves. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2026. No 2. P. 48-61
Based on the analysis of monitoring data, subjective indicators of the effectiveness of the welfare state in modern Russia are described. These indicators are of key importance for reproducing the socio-political stability of society and the legitimacy of the state. The authors’ proposed empirical model for studying citizens’ perceptions of a welfare state allows to identify the main trends in the growth of Russians’ satisfaction with social policy over the past two decades. The main indicators are assessments of the implementation effectiveness of the welfare state principles, on the basis of which a sociological index of the fulfillment by the state of its obligations to guarantee social rights and freedoms of citizens is built enabling to identify problematic areas of the social sphere and to outline ways of optimizing current social policy. Based on the analysis two groups of factors have been identified determining the success of the welfare state in Russia: social factors themselves (determining the directions of social policy) and political and legal factors (instrumentally influencing decision-making in the social sphere). Given the importance of the social justice principle for Russian society, the authors emphasize the need to internalize this principle not only in the concept of a welfare state in Russia, but also in the practices of implementing social guarantees and standards.
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