Specific nature of protests in Belarus between 2017 and 2020 (political and sociological aspect)

The purpose of the article is to analyze the political split of the population of the Republic of Belarus, the related problems, and the prospects for overcoming the electoral crisis. The relevance of this problem is due to the rapid socio-political changes in the public opinion between 2017 and 2020. Results of the secondary analysis of empirical data collected by the Information and Analytical Center under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Belarus, the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Center for Sociological and Political Research of Belarusian State University, and the Sociological Laboratory of Sukhoi State Technical University of Gomel were used for the monitoring and exploration of the political intention behind the population's participation in their country's political life between 2017 and 2020, as well as the attitude of the population to the most important political events during these period. The study reported rapid citizens' politicization, revealed the applicability of the rational choice theory to the political transformation of Belarusian society, and examined the trends of political behavior in advising the government's response to direct actions.