the new russian nationalismleader reacting with apparent vigour and strength to address what
huge numbers of Russians saw as a major and immediate threat
to their lives. Thus when another survey asked in October 1999
what people liked about Putin (with multiple responses possible),
the top response (41 per cent) was that he was ‘energetic, deci-
sive, and wilful’. Tellingly, this figure is significantly higher than
the percentage of people who said they liked him for his stance
on Chechnya (24 per cent) even though his leadership had only
really been demonstrated through his Chechnya policy at that
time. Other concentrations of responses included such qualities as
his capacity to introduce order and personal characteristics such
as his general experience, physical appearance, leadership style,
principled nature and honesty (VTsIOM 1999a). Thus while
Putin surely held some nationalist views as described elsewhere
in this volume, and while one cannot rule out that had he voiced
outright anti- nationalist views he would have been rejected by
the public, his nationalism was not what distinguished him from
other prominent leaders in Russian eyes and was not what drove
the initial surge in his public support that finally helped stabilise
Russia’s political system after the tumult of the 1990s.
Putin’s broadening public appeal 2000–9
While Putin’s initial rise to the presidency owed primarily to the
leadership qualities he showed in responding to the 1999 terrorist
acts, he soon developed other bases of support among the Russian
public. One of the most important has been economic develop-
ment. While economic growth started returning to Russia slightly
before Putin came to power, he certainly reaped the benefits of the
country’s material recovery, driven in large part but not entirely by
high world prices for Russia’s energy- related exports (McAllister
and White 2008; Treisman 2011a). Other studies have confirmed
several additional consistent bases of public support for Putin.
Survey research, for example, has found that he connects with
widespread popular views on the general economic policy direc-
tion of the country (refining the market economy rather than
seeking a return to socialism) and a general slightly right- of- centre
political orientation. Also linked to his support has been growing