Most Russians want to see the positive tendencies of the current government to continue. This was the result of a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre.
At the end of July, the Centre asked 1,600 people whether they would like a change in the political course, and most people said “No”. Around 51% say Russia needs to further strengthen its identity, while 56% say they would like the government to play a more prominent role in the country's economy. However, when asked about whether they want the state to increase its “vertical of power”, which was Putin's main concept when he became President, opinions split. About 26% say they would like to see the state increase its clout, 30% want a further push towards democracy, free elections, and free media, while 27% propose no change at all. 18% refrained from answering the question. The Director of the Research Centre, Valery Fyodorov, explains that such discrepancy in opinion reflects the fact that most Russians do not care much about this problem. He also says there may be some confusion regarding those who want further democracy, as most Russians believe the current regime is much more democratic than Boris Yeltsin's ever was.