“Conservative” voting in Russia: the religiosity and the political choice of orthodox believers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Existing studies leave open many questions about the link between religiosity and the conservative political attitudes of Orthodox believers in Russia. This article employs qualitative research to highlight the role of religiosity in individual political choice. The empirical material was collected during interviews with believers in Lipetsk Oblast in 2019–2020. The results of the study revealed three types of conservative choice, depending on an individual’s level of religiosity. Although religious beliefs and practices play different roles at different levels of religiosity, they are not crucial to believers’ political choices.