Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera recently presented “New Findings from the 2020 Survey of Russian Elites” at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) in Stockholm. The FOI is affiliated with the Swedish Ministry of Defence; the talk was part of the agency’s Russia Research Program Seminar.
In her talk, Rivera discussed what highly placed Russians have to say about Vladimir Putin’s performance as president, threats to Russian security, and other issues related to domestic and foreign policy in Russia.
She also presented new research about whether Russian elites with professional backgrounds in the military and security agencies possess different attitudes toward political pluralism and individual rights than do civilian elites. This research was co-authored with Visiting Assistant Professor of Government David Rivera.
The Survey of Russian Elites includes eight waves of surveys conducted in Russia since 1993; Rivera has served as principal investigator of the project since 2015. Over the past five years, she has involved students from five courses, two Summer Levitt Research Groups, and one Winter Levitt Research Group in the project
The most recent survey wave was supported by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, the National Science Foundation, Hamilton’s Dean of Faculty Office, and the University of Michigan.
