Thirty-seven percent of Russians have not read the Russian constitution, according to a new survey published Sunday by the Levada Center.
The poll was published in advance of Constitution Day on Dec. 12, which marks the adoption of Russia’s constitution in 1993. Of those surveyed, 43 percent did not know about the upcoming holiday on Tuesday — an increase since 2010, when only 25 percent were unaware of the day.
According to Levada’s Director Lev Gudkov, the percentage of people unaware about the holiday has increased because the document is not being observed by state officials.
“People are faced with daily violations of their rights and they see that officials place themselves above the law,” Gudkov told the Kommersant business daily.
The number of people who do not believe the constitution is being “followed at all” has doubled from 7 to 14 percent since 2014 .
"The authorities act outside of the constitution, so people can’t fail to notice that it has nothing to do with real life," Viktor Sheinis, a co-author of the constitution, was cited as saying by Kommersant.
Levada conducted its survey among 1,600 people in 48 Russian regions between Nov. 24 – 28.
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