Image of an Ideal Political Leader: Case of Moscow Students

The research analyzes the young Russians' political culture and their political values. The public opinion varies depending on a lot of drivers, therefore it is crucial to understand what affects it. The problem of the research is the contradiction between the strong support of the president on the one hand and the economic crisis and decreasing social security on the other hand. The general objective of the study is to reveal the connection between the public image of an ideal political leader and perceptions of the future. The methods used are: in-depth interviews and qualitative content-analysis. Based on data of year 2015, a theoretical model was built, consisting of three categories of leader types and four categories of future perceptions. The majority of the students consider Vladimir Putin as an ideal president and believe in bright future of Russia. The main outcome of the study is that the legitimacy of the political leader depends on the citizens' confidence in the future. Further researches in this area would be of a great importance to reveal the complete list of factors that determine the image of the ideal political leader.