Press releases and reports
Social protest actions
Прес-реліз підготував Роман Сігов
Press release by Roman Sigov
On December 1st - 30th, 2018 Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted an all-Ukrainian public opinion poll. Data were collected from 2034 respondents living in 110 settlements (PSU) in all regions of Ukraine (except for the AR of Crimea) with the method of personal interviewing. The sample was stochastic, and it is representative of the population of Ukraine aged 18 and above. In Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts survey was conducted only in the territories that are
controlled by the Ukrainian government.
The statistical sampling error (with a probability of 0.95 and for a design effect of 1.5) does not exceed: 3.3% — for indexes close to 50%, 2.8% — for indexes close to 25%, 2.0% — for indexes close to 10%, 1.4% — for indexes close to 5%.
According to polls conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, in December 2018, 44% of adult Ukrainians were ready to take part in protest actions. Compared to previous years, the level of readiness to participate in social protests, at first, increased from 43% in December 2014 to 49% in December 2016, then decreased to 40% in December 2017, and equaled 44% in December 2018. At the same time, the proportion of those who said they were not ready to take part in any mass protests was 53% in 2017, and 49% in 2018.
The largest number of people, as usual, are eady to participate in such forms of social protest as participation in an electoral campaign (32%), collecting signatures under collective appeals (16%), authorized rallies and demonstrations (11%).
From 3% to 4% of respondents indicated that they were ready to take part in such actions as a boycott, unauthorizedrallies and demonstrations, strike threats, strikes, and picketing of state institutions.
Commentary. The question of whether the participation in an electoral company is a form of protest or, vice versa, the fulfillment of civic duty and demonstration of loyalty to the behavior of the authorities is debatable. Some voters take part in the elections to express their protest, another part does this to support the government. We left the elections in the list of the forms of protest in order to have the possibility of comparison with other Ukrainian and international studies.
Graph 1.
 
By regions:
- In general, the level of readiness to participate in protests does not differ a lot between the regions.
- Regarding the regional differences in certain types of protest actions, the inhabitants of the Western and Central regions are much less ready to participate in the election campaign and collect signatures under collective appeals than people in the Eastern and Southern regions. At the same time, the readiness to boycott and to claim strike threates is bigger in the West and in the Center of the country than in the East and South. The residents of the Western region are ready to participate in authorized rallies and demonstrations, and in the pickets of state institutions more often than others.
By sex:
- In general, the level of readiness to participate in protest actions among men and women does not differ significantly. At the same time, there is a slight difference regarding certain types of protest actions. For example, there are reasons to believe that men are more likely than women to boycott, participate in strikes, seize buildings (5.4%, 4.6%, 1.3% of men and 2.8%, 2.3%, 0 , 3% of women, respectively).
By type of settlement (city-village):
- There is not enough evidence to detect a statistically significant difference between city and village in this study.
By level of education:
- A regularity is observed: the higher is the level of education, then the higher is the level of readiness to participate in protest actions (from 37% among respondents with incomplete secondary education to 47% among respondents with higher education).
- Regarding certain types of protest actions, respondents with higher and secondary special education are more likely to be involved in collecting signatures for collective appeals than those with incomplete secondary education. Thus, 16.8% of respondents with higher education and 17.3% of respondents with secondary special education are ready to sign up the appeal, and this share is 10.8% among respondents with incomplete secondary education. The similar situation is observed in most types of protests, except for the participation in strikes, regarding which the level of readiness among respondents with incomplete secondary education is rather high (4.8%) compared to other respondents, first of all, with full secondary education (1.2%).
By age:
- The main age difference lies in the fact that people over 70 years are less likely to participate in protest actions. Thus, 59% of respondents who are 70+ years old indicated that they were not ready to take part in protest actions. If among the oldest age group 7% are ready to take part in authorized rallies and demonstrations, among other age groups this indicator ranges from 9% to 15%.
- At the same time, it is not correct to say that willingness to participate in protest actions is linearly dependent on age. In particular, a type of activity such as collecting signatures under collective remittances is more common among people aged 40-49 than in the age group of 20-29 (18.2% vs. 12.8%).
- Authorized and unauthorized rallies and demonstrations, and pickets of state institutions are more common among the youngest category of 18-29 years old, than among elder people.
Addition 1. Formulations of the questions from the questionnaire
8. In what social protest actions would you personally be willing to take part? Choose, please, all appropriate for you answers.
PASS THE CARD 8. MARK EVERYTHING WHAT RESPONDENT CHOSE
| Participation in the election campaign |
1 |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
2 |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
3 |
| Strike threat |
4 |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
5 |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
6 |
| Participation in strikes |
7 |
| Hunger strike |
8 |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
9 |
| Seizure of buildings |
10 |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
11 |
| Other (WRITE DOWN) ______________ |
12 |
| I am not ready to take part in any mass protests |
13 |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
14 |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
15 |
Addition 2. Tables
In what social protest actions would you personally be willing to take part? Choose, please, all appropriate for you answers. Arranged by a decrease in interest in 2018
| |
Dec.18 |
Dec.14 |
| Participation in the election campaign |
32.0% |
29.0% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
16.2% |
16.5% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
11.1% |
15.8% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
4.0% |
2.6% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
3.8% |
3.0% |
| Strike threat |
3.7% |
2.3% |
| Participation in strikes |
3.3% |
5.8% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
2.5% |
4.0% |
| Hunger strike |
0.9% |
0.9% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
0.8% |
1.2% |
| Seizure of buildings |
0.7% |
0.7% |
| Other |
0.1% |
0.4% |
| I am not ready to take part in any mass protests |
49.2% |
48.8% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
5.9% |
7.9% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
0.8% |
Was not |
| Dynamics of readiness to participate in protest actions |
| February 2009 |
41% |
| July 2009 |
43% |
| December 2009 |
41% |
| May 2010 |
40% |
| October 2010 |
39% |
| March 2011 |
38% |
| August 2011 |
37% |
| January 2012 |
36% |
| June 2012 |
35% |
| November 2012 |
34% |
| April 2013 |
34% |
| September 2013 |
37% |
| February 2014 |
42% |
| July 2014 |
42% |
| December 2014 |
43% |
| February 2015 |
43% |
| July 2015 |
44% |
| December 2016 |
49% |
| July 2017 |
47% |
| December 2017 |
40% |
| December 2018 |
44% |
By regions:
| 2018 |
Western |
Central |
Southern |
Eastern |
| Participation in the election campaign |
27.0% |
28.9% |
37.7% |
39.3% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
13.5% |
11.4% |
21.4% |
24.7% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
16.8% |
10.7% |
5.6% |
10.9% |
| Strike threat |
5.4% |
5.5% |
0.9% |
0.7% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
5.2% |
4.8% |
1.1% |
4.5% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
6.8% |
4.0% |
1.1% |
1.9% |
| Participation in strikes |
7.0% |
1.7% |
1.5% |
3.7% |
| Hunger strike |
1.3% |
1.5% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
6.0% |
1.2% |
1.0% |
1.3% |
| Seizure of buildings |
1.3% |
0.7% |
0.4% |
0.5% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
2.0% |
0.6% |
0.0% |
0.5% |
| Other |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
48.4% |
49.3% |
50.8% |
47.8% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
9.7% |
5.4% |
3.0% |
5.3% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
1.4% |
0.8% |
0.5% |
0.0% |
By sex:
| 2018 |
Male |
Female |
| Participation in the election campaign |
30.9% |
32.8% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
14.9% |
17.3% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
12.2% |
10.2% |
| Strike threat |
4.7% |
2.9% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
5.4% |
2.8% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
4.7% |
3.0% |
| Participation in strikes |
4.6% |
2.3% |
| Hunger strike |
1.3% |
0.5% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
3.1% |
1.9% |
| Seizure of buildings |
1.3% |
0.3% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
1.3% |
0.5% |
| Other |
0.1% |
0.0% |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
46.0% |
52.0% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
8.3% |
4.0% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
1.1% |
0.5% |
By type of settlement (city-village):
| 2018 |
City population |
Rural population |
| Participation in the election campaign |
32.3% |
31.2% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
17.3% |
14.0% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
11.2% |
10.8% |
| Strike threat |
3.9% |
3.4% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
4.3% |
3.2% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
4.0% |
3.4% |
| Participation in strikes |
3.1% |
3.8% |
| Hunger strike |
0.9% |
0.8% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
2.8% |
1.9% |
| Seizure of buildings |
1.0% |
0.3% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
0.9% |
0.6% |
| Other |
0.1% |
0.0% |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
47.6% |
52.5% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
6.2% |
5.3% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
0.8% |
0.7% |
By level of education:
| 2018 |
Incomplete secondary |
Full secondary |
Secondary special |
Higher |
| Participation in the election campaign |
26,0% |
33,7% |
32,0% |
31,7% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
10,8% |
13,2% |
17,3% |
16,8% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
5.9% |
5.4% |
11.2% |
14.4% |
| Strike threat |
3.4% |
2.1% |
3.8% |
4.3% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
2.7% |
1.9% |
4.0% |
5.1% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
0.0% |
1.5% |
4.4% |
4.5% |
| Participation in strikes |
4.8% |
1.2% |
3.5% |
3.9% |
| Hunger strike |
0.0% |
0.2% |
0.9% |
1.2% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
2.3% |
1.1% |
2.3% |
3.4% |
| Seizure of buildings |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.9% |
1.1% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
1.1% |
0.4% |
0.7% |
1.2% |
| Other |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.2% |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
59.9% |
52.5% |
48.9% |
47.0% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
3.2% |
5.6% |
7.0% |
5.1% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
0.0% |
0.8% |
0.7% |
0.9% |
By age:
| 2018 |
18-29 y.o. |
30-39 y.o. |
40-49 y.o. |
50-59 y.o. |
60-69 y.o. |
70+ y.o. |
| Participation in the election campaign |
31.1% |
29.2% |
35.2% |
36.8% |
32.7% |
26.1% |
| Collection of signatures under collective appeals |
17.6% |
12.8% |
18.2% |
17.4% |
16.3% |
14.5% |
| Authorized rallies and demonstrations |
15.0% |
9.4% |
10.8% |
12.2% |
10.2% |
7.0% |
| Strike threat |
4.1% |
3.3% |
4.1% |
4.5% |
2.9% |
2.9% |
| Boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
4.8% |
5.4% |
4.5% |
2.6% |
2.6% |
2.9% |
| Unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
4.9% |
4.2% |
2.8% |
3.5% |
4.5% |
2.1% |
| Participation in strikes |
3.3% |
4.2% |
4.0% |
3.9% |
1.6% |
2.3% |
| Hunger strike |
0.5% |
1.1% |
0.8% |
1.6% |
0.7% |
0.4% |
| Picketing of the government agencies |
3.1% |
2.2% |
2.4% |
2.7% |
2.8% |
1.4% |
| Seizure of buildings |
1.4% |
0.9% |
0.9% |
0.8% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
| Creation of armed forces independent from the government |
1.6% |
0.9% |
0.6% |
1.4% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
| Other |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.4% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
45.3% |
53.7% |
45.1% |
44.2% |
51.0% |
59.3% |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
7.9% |
4.4% |
7.0% |
5.6% |
6.3% |
3.7% |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
1.6% |
0.5% |
0.8% |
0.6% |
0.3% |
0.5% |
Dynamics of readiness to participate in social protest actions (2009-2018, alternativesare presented in the alphabetical order)
| |
February 2009 |
April 2009 |
September 2012 |
November 2013 |
February 2014 |
December 2014 |
December 2016 |
December 2017 |
December 2018 |
| participation in the election campaign |
21.6 |
23.7 |
18.5 |
26.1 |
30.8 |
29.0 |
35.4 |
28.9 |
32.0 |
| collection of signatures under collective appeals |
17.4 |
11.3 |
11.7 |
13.2 |
18.5 |
16.5 |
15.5 |
16.5 |
16.2 |
| authorized rallies and demonstrations |
16.6 |
15.8 |
13.8 |
11.9 |
17.3 |
15.8 |
11.9 |
9.6 |
11.1 |
| strike threat |
5.0 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
2.2 |
3.3 |
2.3 |
2.8 |
1.7 |
3.7 |
| boycott (refusal to comply with decisions of the administration, authorities) |
3.8 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
3.6 |
2.6 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
4.0 |
| unauthorized rallies and demonstrations |
3.6 |
3.6 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
4.6 |
3.0 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
3.8 |
| participation in strikes |
7.7 |
7.6 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
5.0 |
5.8 |
3.4 |
2.9 |
3.3 |
| hunger strike |
0.9 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
| picketing of the government agencies |
4.8 |
4.0 |
2.8 |
1.6 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
| seizure of buildings |
1.6 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
0.5 |
1.1 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
| creation of armed forces independent from the government |
1.8 |
1.5 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
0.8 |
| other |
0.4 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
| I am not ready to participate in any actions of social protest |
51.0 |
52.4 |
59.1 |
56.4 |
50.3 |
48.8 |
45.6 |
53.2 |
49.2 |
| DIFFICULT TO SAY |
8.0 |
4.9 |
6.9 |
6.4 |
7.5 |
7.9 |
4.4 |
5.3 |
5.9 |
| DENIAL FROM ANSWERING |
was not |
was not |
was not |
was not |
was not |
was not |
1.5 |
1.2 |
0.8 |
Regarding the commentary contact, please, Roman Sigov r.sigov@kiis.com.ua
6.2.2019
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