The Relationship Between Orthodox Religiosity and the Willingness of Russian Citizens to Participate in Collective Political Action: Evidence from the 2011 and 2017 World Values Survey

Abstract

The article explores why some citizens engage in protest actions while others reject the possibility altogether, arguing that protest influences public policy and economic development. It notes that existing scientific literature identifies various factors affecting individual protest potential but highlights that the in­fluence of citizens’ religiosity remains underexplored. Theoretical grounding is provided by the Marxist concept of religion as part of the deprivation-compen­sation hypothesis, which suggests religiosity may reduce protest propensity. Formulating a hypothesis that Orthodox religiosity decreases individuals' will­ingness to protest, the author empirically tests this using data from the World Values Survey, involving a sample of approximately 3,500–3,600 respondents and employing ordinal logistic regression. The study finds no empirical support for the hypothesized negative relationship; hence, the Marxist concept is not confirmed in this context. Additional findings reveal that reading news on social networks, political interest, and post-materialist values increase protest potential, whereas watch­ing TV news decreases it. The author underscores that studying protest potential provides valuable insights into social and political dynamics, citizen concerns, and aids in developing effective public relations management strategies.