Civic participation as an element of democracy in the Russian society

Democracy or “people’s power” is carried out through numerous forms of interaction between various communities, public associations of citizens with state authorities and local self-government bodies. Due to the attention to the development of democratic foundations, foreign and Russian scientists are increasingly interested in the civil society and civil participation. The stated issues has been covered in research by L. Yakobson, I.V. Mersiyanova, I.E. Korneeva, E. Huber, D. Rueschemeyer and J.D. Stephens, K. Bayme, etc. The purpose for the article is to consider the use of statistical and sociological methods of civil participation as an integral part of the democratic system of the Russian society in comparison with international studies. Based on data from domestic and foreign empirical measurements it has been revealed that in modern Russian society the citizens’ positive attitude to the functioning of democracy is combined with a high degree of criticism and distrust of most of its institutions...