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Constitution Day
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The set was issued by several factories
in different colours in 1959
Fully presented is one of the sets of the "Krasnaya Zvezda"
match factory
1 - The right for work
2 - The right for rest
3 - The right for education |
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In Russia, Constitution Day (December
12) is not considered a popular holiday. According to the results
of an opinion poll this month, for 67% of the people in this country,
Constitution Day is simply an additional day off. Every fifth Russian
(20%) regards Constitution Day as a holiday. However, a poll conducted
in January (2001) showed that only 9% of the citizens viewed that
day as a holiday.
The survey demonstrated that Constitution Day does not arouse any
special emotions among the public. "I view it only as a day
off. There is no feeling of pride or anything like that in my heart."
This was quite a typical response according to a poll conducted
in Samara.
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Such an attitude towards the holiday
is explained largely by society's attitude towards the country's
Fundamental Law. In the opinion of 47% of the respondents in the
December poll, the Constitution is purely a formal document, whereas
41% consider that the Constitution plays a decisive role in the
life of the country.
Quite a large segment of Russian society (38%) consider the present
Constitution to be a "poor" one, 28% view it as a "good"
one, while 34% were unable to express their opinion. Besides that,
67% of the respondents consider that the Constitution today should
be reexamined and that amendments should be added. Only 8% think
otherwise.
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It is noteworthy that besides indifference
towards the Constitution, the poll also demonstrated that the citizens
of the country do not know much about it. More than half (55%) of
the citizens admit that they know nothing about the basic statutes
in that document, whereas 36% claim otherwise. However, poll analysts
believe the number of people who really know something about the
basic provisions in the Constitution is in reality considerably
smaller. Polls conducted in Samara and Novosibirsk revealed that
none of the respondents had ever read the Constitution and knew
nothing about it, whereas as poll in Moscow demonstrated that only
two respondents had ever read the Constitution.
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Although the results of the polls do
not represent the nationwide situation, they are nevertheless quite
indicative. It is noteworthy that the ratio of respondents in big
cities who declared they were acquainted with the Constitution was
somewhat higher than in smaller cities and rural areas.
Also noteworthy is the fact that 60% of the respondents that knew
nothing about the Constitution, nonetheless, expressed their attitudes
towards the document (25% - positive, 35% - negative), whereas 40%
were unable to define their stand. Among the respondents that were
acquainted with the Constitution, 35% view it as a "good"
one, 46% - "bad" and 19% were undecided.
A total of 1,500 respondents in cities and rural areas participated
in the polls that were conducted December 1-2 and January 13, 2001.
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