Twenty-six percent of those interviewed by ROMIR for its nationwide survey gave an utterly negative appraisal of parliament's performance during its recent spring session, and 35% said it was bad rather than good.
Nineteen percent of the respondents said the lawmakers were doing a good job; 18% said they did not know whether it was good or bad.
The survey showed that the Duma's approval rating is highest in the Volga and Urals federal districts (29%-30%) and lowest in the South federal district (32%).
Curiously enough, Russian women tend to be more positive in their appraisal of parliament than men. The elderly are usually more critical of the legislature's work than younger generations. Educated, well-off people praise parliament more often than those with lower education and income levels.
The Russian parliament's approval rating has dropped from 35% to 21% since last December. The percentage of people criticizing it for what they see as poor performance has risen to 61%, up from 53% in December.
A sample of 1,600 adults, over 18 years of age, were surveyed in 100 urban and rural communities across the nation. The margin of error did not exceed 3%.
