Political Parties and Their Leaders’ Public Perception against Background of Current Psychological State of Russian Society

The article is devoted to the images of the Russian parties and their leaders against the background of the changes in the psychological state of our society in the modern conditions. The study was based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted in late 2022 — early 2023 in 22 regions. The object of the study were five parties represented in the State Duma (United Russia, The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, The Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia — For Truth, New People) and their leaders (A.Turchak, G.Zyuganov, V.Zhirinovsky, L.Slutsky, S.Mironov, and A.Nechaev). The research methodology included a survey, an in-depth interview, a semantic differential, a projective test, and a directed associations method. The study was not representative of the country as a whole, but the sample was balanced in terms of gender, age and education. The study demonstrated that the high level of anxiety and concerns of citizens about military actions did not affect a number of perception parameters, such as the attitude towards parties as a necessary part of the democratic process, the lack of a clear ideological identification of parties, and the personification of party images. At the same time, some parameters have undergone a significant transformation. First, the perception of a position of parties within the framework of the dichotomy “power — opposition” has changed. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, A Just Russia — For Truth and The Liberal Democratic Party have lost a significant part of their image as opposition in the perception of citizens, while support for United Russia, which is clearly associated with the authorities, has increased. Second, the popularity of a flamboyant style has become a thing of the past, and today the image of the centrist party is the most attractive for voters. The new political reality requires that parties work to consolidate the society in the face of an external threat rather than demonstrate their independence and distance themselves from the authorities. Third, if before the beginning of the 2020s the demand for conservatism prevailed in the society, in the current situation social democratic and liberal values are more in demand.