The author considers the evolution of Russian society’s democratic values and institutions, of different forms of political and public participation – considers in the context of the changes that were and are taking place in the country in the recent years. The empirical basis of this work has been presented by sociological researches conducted by the Institute of Sociology, RAS, and by other sociological centers.
Special attention is given to perspectives of the development of democracy in the country; the author substantiates the necessity to develop various forms of civil initiatives and of citizens’ self-organization as the basis for the formation of “equal opportunities democracy” under the conditions of the crisis of the institutional sphere.