PR insured that political parties would be represented according to
their actual popular support, while the educational reforms guaranteed funding for all schools, even those with overt faith commitments.
In the summer of 2009, we conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,500 Russian citizens, and found that respondents who were directly affected by the financial crisis were more likely to respond negatively to questions concerning
popular support for the political leadership of the country, the efficacy of the political authorities, and the
actual practice of democracy in Russia (Chaisty and Whitefield, 2012).