The share of Ukrainians surveyed who consider democracy to be the most desirable type of state structure increased to 73% after the start of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, and those who preferred an authoritarian regime decreased to 9.5%.

This is evidenced by the data of a survey conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center from May 23 to May 31, 2023 within the framework of the MATRA Program project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. The results of the survey were presented at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday.

"Between 2010 and 2021, the proportion of respondents who considered democracy the most desirable type of government was in the range of 48-56%, and those who preferred an authoritarian regime - in the range of 18-24%. According to a survey conducted in September-October 2022, that is, after the start of a full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the share of the former increased to 68%, and the share of the latter decreased to 11.5%. In May 2023, the share of supporters of the democratic regime has grown even more to 73%, and the share of supporters of authoritarianism has decreased to 9.5%," the Razumkov Center said in a press release handed over to Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

As noted, the situation of a large-scale war has led to an increase in the share of respondents in Ukraine who consider the system to be "rather good" or "very good" when the military or military regime rules (up to 28%), whereas in 2017 there were 12% of such. However, the overwhelming majority (71%) of Ukrainians still consider such a system to be bad.

At the same time, it should be noted that 26% of respondents in Ukraine consider both the system when the military or military regime rules and the democratic system to be good at the same time (91% of those who consider the system when the military or military regime rules to be good also consider the democratic system to be good). That is, the "military regime" is mainly perceived as a means of protecting democracy in a military confrontation with the aggressor.

According to sociologists, over the past six years, citizens' assessment of the level of democracy in the governance of the country has been growing. The average score characterizing how democratically our country is governed (on a 10-point scale, where 1 means "not at all democratic", 10 means "absolutely democratic") increased from 3.8 in 2017, to 5.1 in 2020 and to 6.2 in 2023.

Compared to 2020, the share of citizens in Ukraine who believe that the political system does not allow them to influence the actions of the government has decreased from 34% to 28%. At the same time, the total share of those who believe that the political system allows people like them to influence the actions of the government "unconditionally" or "sufficiently" has also decreased from 17% to 12%.

In general, citizens' assessment of how much they are able to influence the course of their own lives has hardly changed over the past few years and was in the range of 5.8-6.2 points on a ten-point scale.

According to sociologists, for those who consider themselves a free person, compared with 2021, it increased from 62% to 84%.

If it is necessary to choose what is more important - freedom or equality, 75% of respondents choose freedom (in 2022 there were 71% of such people, in 2020 - 64%). But if choosing between freedom and security, Ukrainians often choose security (54.5%, and 44% choose freedom). However, the choice in favor of security is now significantly less than in 2020, when 66% of Ukrainians gave preference to security (and this is in a situation when there is a large-scale war in Ukraine and the urgency of the security issue has enormously increased).

When it is necessary to choose between freedom and prosperity, Ukrainians' choice of freedom is constantly growing. If in 2010 the shares of those who preferred freedom and those who preferred prosperity were approximately equal (32% and 30%, respectively), then in May 2023 the share of the former increased to 51%, and the share of the latter decreased to 23%.

The war has made adjustments to the readiness of Ukrainians to defend their homeland, sociologists report. So, in 2011, in Ukraine, the share of those who give a positive answer regarding the readiness to defend the country was 40%, in 2020 it has grown to 57%, in May 2023 – to 67%.

As noted, the readiness to defend the country is expressed by the majority of residents of all regions: 61% in the East, 67% in the Central region, 68% in the West and 71% in the South of the country, 74% among men and 60.5% among women, from 68% to 75% in the age groups from 18 to 59 years, 51% - among those who are 60 or older.

Some 2,020 respondents aged 18 and over were interviewed. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional sample deviations may be due to the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, the forced evacuation of millions of citizens.

The survey was conducted on a stratified multi-stage sample using random selection at the first stages of sample formation and the quota method of selecting respondents at the final stage (when respondents were selected by gender and age quotas). The sample structure corresponds to the demographic structure of the adult population of the territories where the survey was conducted, as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, gender, type of settlement).