Vladimir Putin's latest live phone-in programme when he answered questions from callers, SMS messages and questions sent through the Internet was true to form: every next session has lasted longer than the previous one. Vladimir Putin's first TV live linkup in 2001 lasted two and half hours, the 2005 programme lasted 2 hours and 53 minutes. In 2007 the duration was more than three hours and this latest conversation took four hours and one minute. The number of people wishing to talk directly to the country's leader has also grown: the total number of calls and messages topped 1.5 million. What is behind the new record?
Clearly, the growing number of those who called and wrote to Vladimir Putin (whether in his capacity as President or Prime Minister) speaks volumes about his popularity, but it may also have something to do with people's wish to get some of the limelight. People asked the Prime Minister about his daily life and habits. But that is not all. Those who called and wrote were not particularly interested in the key questions: the crisis, corruption or high-profile cases.
Citizens, especially in the provinces, ask Putin to help them solve their daily problems. The previous linkup is remembered for the request by a woman in the Stavropol Territory to bring running water to her remote hamlet. This time around the Prime Minister was asked to protect milk kitchens in Nizhniy Novgorod, raise the salaries of kindergarten staff in Krasnoyarsk, provide an apartment for a World War II veteran in Rostov-on-Don, improve the state of hospitals in Magnitogorsk and, finally, to provide Yelena Golubeva, whose house had been damaged in the Neva Express train crash, with a new place to live.
Putin, of course, could not answer all the callers, including Major Alexei Dymovsky, who called him twice. The huge number of appeals to the Prime Minister over minor problems that should be dealt with by local or regional administrations, highlights the crisis of governance and a lack of normal channels of communication between the citizens and the authorities.
The budgets of 80% of the country's municipalities are subsidised, and they often have no money to replace a burst pipe or fix a veteran's house. Many mayors of large cities, governors and the majority of deputies now depend not on the will of the citizens, but on the benevolence of the party bureaucracy. Given the current state of the judicial system, bureaucrats can reply to citizens' complaints with non-committal assurances.
In this situation, direct TV linkups or online conferences of the country's leaders are the only way for citizens to solve their daily problems.
It is some consolation that technical progress has made the top echelons of power more accessible. The country's leaders can now reach out to their potential electorate not only over television, but also through the Internet. In addition, while the bureaucrats and deputies have not yet banned Skype, the President and the Prime Minister can use it to communicate with the more advanced members of their audience.
Most importantly, there are two number ones in Russia today. Their alternate appearances on television and on the Web doubles the chances of ordinary Russians to share their aspirations and problems with the leaders. One can even complain to one about the other's behaviour. Regular direct communication of the two leaders with the people generates a contest of promises and (hopefully) the desire to solve this or that problem more quickly and effectively than the partner.
Given present-day technology, the President and the Prime Minister can communicate with the people still more often. For example, Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez talks with his people on the "Hello, Mr President" programme every week. Its duration has increased from the initial five hours to eight hours.