NO CONTACT
The overall results of the year 2007, which has gone by under the conditions of an increasing alarm feeling in the Belarusian society, are also distinctly seen in the dynamics of trust towards state and public institutions. On the whole, the "concerted" tendency registered in May when trust indices to state institutions had decreased, and to non-governmental ones (with the exception of opposition political parties) had increased, was not prolonged

TELL ME WHO YOUR FRIEND IS...
In the opinion poll of December, 2007 respondents were asked for the third time during the last two years to indicate which countries of the world are friendly towards Belarus, and which are not. The “Levada-center” routinely asks similar questions in its opinion polls in Russia. Study of changes dynamics of the Belarusians’ attitude to their close and distant neighbors as well as a comparison of “world pictures” of the Belarusians and the Russians can be of interest...

FALLING BACK INTO PLACE
One of the most important and interesting conclusions which followed from the September, 2007 opinion poll of the IISEPS was a considerable decrease of integration attitude of the Belarusians. The decrease applied to prospects of integration into the East-Russia, as well as into the West-the European Union. However, the data of the last December opinion poll do not let us assert that September and other previous opinion polls of the year present a new long-term tendency...

SHORT RECKONINGS MAKE LONG FRIENDS
There was a proverb at the Soviet time: "A hen is not a bird, Poland is not a foreign country". Today no one would say such a thing about Poland neither in Belarus, nor in Russia, especially after Poland joined Schengen zone on December, 21. Russia is gradually taking up the place of Poland for the Belarusians, and Belarus in its turn is taking up this place for the Russians...

HIERARCHY OF SOCIAL DISTANCES
To what extent are representatives of different ethnic minorities acceptable to the society? Growth of anti-immigrant attitudes in Western Europe and xenophobia violence in Russia testify to the topicality of the problem. In Belarus this problem is not so acute for the time being. However, we might suppose the tendencies, which are becoming Europe wide and even worldwide, will not avoid our country either...

IN SEARCH OF THE ONE TO BLAME
There is a tradition among the people attributing themselves to intelligentsia to search for the answers to two important questions: "What to do?" and "Whose fault is it?" The first question, as a rule, is not urgent for the public opinion not disposed towards introspection. The same, however, cannot be said about the second one. Properly speaking, in societies, where authority is the only political subject, mobilization technologies in fact rely on the ability of the mass individual to be consolidated around a strong person in a dangerous moment...

WHO NEEDS THIS COUNTRY?
Openness of the economy presents perhaps the most serious threat for Belarusian stability and hence for A. Lukashenko’s personal power. He realizes this threat in full measure. To prove the mentioned thesis let us quote a statement of his: "Neither the government, nor the local authorities should forget that in the near future we will have to considerably increase the level of income of the population...

INFLATIONARY CONSTERNATION
It might seem, what significance may a macroeconomic showing "exceeded" by 1-2% according to the results of the year have, and is the population able to feel such paltry deviation? Yes, if the matter concerns inflation. Let us refer to opinion poll: the impression is, as if the Belarusians went eight years back, when the index of consumer prices had grown by more than 200% during the year...

SHOCK IS AS WE WOULD HAVE IT!
As it was mentioned before 84.2% of the Belarusians mentioned the rise in prices as the most important problem of their life. In comparison with the June poll of 2006 actuality of the problem has grown at once by 24.4 percentage points. Data of poll let us sense the generalized feeling of alarm caused by the rise in prices; take it to relative pieces, which nevertheless are going to be useful in the course of the subsequent analysis...

ABOUT THE ADVANTAGE OF AN ALTERNATIVE
On December, 17 the Belarusians were left without benefits. The authorities tried to prepare the population for coming into force of such an unpopular decision beforehand. For this purpose the corresponding reminders were being repeatedly played through loud-speakers of the public transportation for two weeks. Judging by the results of the last poll, those two weeks made a remarkable contribution into the change of the public opinion...

THE LAW AND ORDER IN THE LIFE OF THE BELARUSIANS
Belarusian authorities keep emphasizing that order and stability are the most important priorities of their policy. Clean streets of the capital and other cities, scanty demonstrations of the opposition and numerous militia patrols, "debureaucratization" of the State machinery and "elegant victories" at the elections – all this in their opinion testifies to the fact that the vague times of "the general collapse" when "the authorities were wallowing in mud" have irretrievably gone by...

ASTRANGED PEOPLE
A trinomial classification of the Belarusian society, dividing it into supporters and opponents of the present authorities and also into the vacillating ones, "the swamp", is wandering from one political science article into another. This classification cannot be called incorrect, however it requires serious more precise definitions. In particular, it is not quite suitable for explaining a well-known phenomenon that decrease of the head’s of state popularity does not always (to be more precise-very seldom) lead to increase of the opposition popularity...

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