New features of power legitimation in terms of contemporary Russian political process

The article is devoted to the study of public trust in the Russian political institutions and actors. The author pays especial attention to the identification of the factors determining the high level of trust of Russian citizens to the President of the Russian Federation since 2000s, among which cultural traditions, social capital, effectiveness of political institutions are highlighted. In general, the modern Russian society is characterized by a deficit of trust, with a few exceptions in the most various spheres: political, economic, cultural, spiritual. This situation leads to the fact that in our country the formation of civil society is rather problematic. The particular attention is paid to the new factors of legitimation of power and the construction of public confidence in today's pressing social and economic challenges. The author concludes that the actions of the authorities pursued a policy, aimed at forestalling the emergence of the total mature signs of distrust of the government or opposition to its activities.