It is well known that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has high approval ratings. They have never fallen below 60% since his emergence as an important political figure in autumn 1999, with peaks in the high eighties. These figures are widely repeated and have even generated headlines claiming that Putin is the most popular leader in the world. These ratings, however, have been so high for so long that they prompt some important questions. How can such ratings be explained? More specifically, can these ratings be believed or taken at face value? This is a matter of some significance because high approval ratings serve as a source of legitimacy for Putin and for the regime. Relatedly, there is also a tendency in the mass media to marvel at Putin’s approval rating, often noting that it is much higher than that of leaders in the West. The suggestion seems to be that Putin, however much he is criticized by the West, is genuinely popular in Russia and as such is a successful and legitimate leader.
I consider various possible explanations for these approval ratings. The contention of this paper is that the electoral authoritarian political system is the most important explanation – and indeed the only plausible one – for Putin’s abnormally high approval ratings. It is argued that Putin’s approval rating is so high because he operates in a system in which virtually all of the mainstream information about him is positive, he is above critique in public politics, there is no meaningful opposition and no attractive alternatives are allowed to emerge and participate in public life. Putin, in other words, is operating in conditions that would boost the popularity of any politician. To test the logic of this argument I present statistical analyses of media effects on Putin’s approval rating and on the policy achievements most closely associated with his popularity.