Yaroslav Shashkova

Sergey Aseev

Tatyana Aseeva

The article analyzes identification development of the population in the Republic of Altai in the aspects of ethnic, citizen and political identity. Empirical evidence is given in the representative survey of 750 residents of the Republic of Altai (August, 2016), the data compared to those of the 2009, 2010 and 2013 surveys. The identity is understood here as affiliations, self-reflection and self-identifications an individual resorts to place oneself in physical, social and political space and build up strategies of political behavior. The analysis is based on the theory that identity is a complicated open multilevel system where all levels interact in supplement rather than opposition. The authors discuss the balance of civic and ethnic identity, their peculiarities in different ethnic groups, factors influencing civic and ethnic identity. The survey reflected the dominance of civic identity over local (ethnic), when residents first of all identify themselves with the country and only then with a certain region. The basic grounds for such identification wiht the region are shared country, history, culture and traditions; the factors to promote local (ethnic) identity  – development of ethnic culture, support of language and religion. When discussing the attitude of the population to the political institutes and readiness to participate in political life we have noticed the importance of federal and local authorities resulting in high level of confidence in both of them. Disapproval of the republican authorities induces active participation in regional elections. The conclusion is made that the political stability of the region is threatened by fall of interest for the politics and growing delegitimization of political institutes. The survey was carried out with using authored tools and was targeted at deeper understanding of social and political situation in polyethnic and border regions of the Russian Federation.