Digitalization as a Factor in the Transformation of Political Trust in Russia

Andrei A. Linchenko; Tatiana L. Shkarina; Elena V. Trutenko

doi:10.15826/csp.2026.10.2.385

Andrei A. Linchenko Lipetsk State Technical University; Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation (Lipetsk Branch), Lipetsk, Russia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6242-8844
Tatiana L. Shkarina Voronezh Institute of Economics and Law (Lipetsk branch), Lipetsk, Russia http://orcid.org/0009-0007-7571-6512
Elena V. Trutenko Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia; Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation (Lipetsk Branch), Lipetsk, Russia http://orcid.org/0009-0006-1038-5532

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2026.10.2.385

Abstract

Despite the rapid expansion of digital public services, their impact on political trust remains theoretically and empirically contested. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s constructivist theory of practice, this article argues that trust should not be understood merely as a reflection of the quality of digital services. Rather, it is conceptualized as an internal component of agents’ practices, where the key factor is not simply digital knowledge or literacy, but the degree of involvement and immersion in digitally mediated social contexts. The study relies on a content analysis of research literature on the digitalization of public services, e-government, and Internet voting in Russia and other national contexts. The findings suggest that the relationship between the digitalization of state–citizen interactions and political trust is indirect. This relationship operates through the following sequence: digitalization of public services → trust environments (formed around specific digital practices) → digital trust culture → practices of political participation → political trust. The effectiveness of this model in contemporary Russia depends on both temporal and spatial factors. The analysis shows that government policy is primarily oriented toward creating “comfortable everyday life” through the widespread implementation of digital technologies. This approach can function as a mechanism for increasing social and political trust. However, given the amorphous and weakly organized nature of Russian society, as well as its social inertia, such effects are likely to be significant but short-term.

Author Biographies

Andrei A. Linchenko, Lipetsk State Technical University; Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation (Lipetsk Branch), Lipetsk, Russia

Andrei A. Linchenko, Cand. Sci. (History). In 2013, his book Tselostnost’ istoricheskogo soznaniia: Vvedenie v issledovanie problemy [The Wholeness of Historical Consciousness: An Introduction to the Study of the Problem], was awarded the medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences as the best book of the year in philosophy. In 2018, he won a DAAD-scholarship for the project “The transformation of the autobiographical memory of migrants. Life-stories and memories in the migration society with the example of the Russian-German minority” (Ruhr University). He is currently a participant of the international project “Core Concepts of Historical Thinking” (Adam Mickiewicz University). His research interests are in the field of studying philosophical aspects of historical culture and cultural memory studies, the transformation of historical consciousness of young people in the contemporary world, the narrative strategies of the autobiographical memory of the Russian-speaking migrants in the European Union, modern Soviet mythologies in the Russian historical culture, and politics of memory. He is also a co-author of the books Politics of Memory and Oblivion in the European Context. Critical Perspectives (Routledge, 2022) and Image, History and Memory. Central and Eastern Europe in a Comparative Perspective (Routledge, 2022).

Tatiana L. Shkarina, Voronezh Institute of Economics and Law (Lipetsk branch), Lipetsk, Russia

Tatiana L. Shkarina, Cand. Sci. (Pedagogy). Her thesis was devoted to pedagogical conditions for improving students’ learning of English with authentic means. She started her career as a Research Assistant in the Lipetsk State Pedagogical University and now she is an Associate Professor of the Department of general professional disciplines of the Voronezh Institute of Economics and Law. She is the author of several study guides for students, which cover business communication, English and French grammar and testing. Her research interests are in the field of studying authentic issues for improving language training, the social and cultural aspects influencing of the development of speech abilities of young people.

Elena V. Trutenko, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia; Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation (Lipetsk Branch), Lipetsk, Russia

Elena V. Trutenko, Lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Lipetsk Branch). Head of the Student Research Society of the Lipetsk branch of the Financial University. Member of the laboratory for the study of financial and economic behavior of regional population. Member of research teams implementing a state assignment from the Government of the Russian Federation and a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (Tomsk State University). Her research interests include studying the specifics of trust in financial institutions in rural and urban areas, exploring the implementation of information policies to increase public trust in financial institutions in the Russian Federation, and studying contemporary practices of cancel culture in the post-Soviet space.

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