E. I. Pochatkova, M. V. Pevnaya. Public Values in Youth Assessments: An Empirical Study of Perceptions of the Activities of Civil Servants in the Sverdlovsk Region

https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.033.202504.735-753
EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ubarnj
УДК / UDC 124.51–057.34–053.81(470.54)

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of this topic stems from the problem of weak youth involvement in civic participation practices. Understanding how young citizens reflect on social consensus, social equality, and solidarity determines the direction of youth policy implementation. The purpose of this article is to study young people's perceptions of socially significant values, which are articulated by the generation in its assessments of the work of civil servants in the region.

Materials and Methods. The empirical basis for the study was data from a questionnaire survey of young people in a large region of Russia – the Sverdlovsk Region – conducted in 2023 (quota sample, n = 320). Respondents were asked to answer 15 questions about the activities of local officials. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlation analysis.

Results. Promising areas for dialogue and rapprochement between young people and public authorities in the Sverdlovsk Region have been identified, namely the values of social justice, equality, and solidarity, which are important to the younger generation. The problem of limited awareness among young people about the activities of regional officials was identified, against a backdrop of a fairly high level of distrust of the latter in the context of socially significant values and widespread perceptions of the closed and bureaucratic nature of their work.

Discussion and Conclusion. It was revealed that the younger the youth, the higher the possibility of establishing a system of interaction that fosters positive communication between the younger generation and regional officials. The research results are of practical importance in terms of the work of civil servants with young people in different regions of the Russian Federation, in particular for expanding the dialogue between young people and regional officials.

Keywords: public values, trust in government authorities, value orientations of young people, young people in the Sverdlovsk Region, questionnaire survey, correlation analysis, perception of government

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments. The authors would like to thank A. N. Tarasova, Cand. Sci. (Sociol.) and Associate Professor, for her assistance in collecting and analyzing data.

For citation: Pochatkova E.I., Pevnaya M.V. Public Values in Youth Assessments: An Empirical Study of Perceptions of the Activities of Civil Servants in the Sverdlovsk Region. Russian Journal of Regional Studies. 2025;33(4):735–753. https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.033.202504.735-753

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About the authors:

Ekaterina I. Pochatkova, Assistant, Chair of Sociology and Public and Municipal Administration Technologies, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Ekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7571-5055, SPIN-code: 6641-3094, e.i.pochatkova@urfu.ru

Maria V. Pevnaya, Dr.Sci. (Sociol.), Associate Professor, Head of the Chair of Sociology and Technologies of State and Municipal Administration, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Ekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5539-5722, Researcher ID: AAA-6886-2019, Scopus ID: 57200641582, SPIN-code: 7750-4820, m.v.pevnaya@urfu.ru

Contribution of the authors:

E. I. Pochatkova – investigation; formal analysis; visualization; writing – original draft preparation.

M. V. Pevnaya – conceptualization; project administration; writing – review and editing.

Availability of data and materials. The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 02.11.2024; revised 05.09.2025; accepted 12.09.2025.