E-Book Overview
One common explanation for the failure of democracy to take root in Russia more quickly and more thoroughly than it has points to inherited cultural values that predispose Russian citizens to favor an autocratic type of governance. Ellen Carnaghan takes aim at this cultural-determinist thesis in her study of Russian attitudes, based on intensive interviews with more than sixty citizens from all walks of life and a variety of political orientations. What she finds is that, rather than being influenced by an antidemocratic and anticapitalist ideology, these ordinary citizens view the economic and political system in Russia today very critically because it simply does not function well for them in meeting their everyday needs. They long for order not because they eschew democracy and free markets in any fundamental way, but because they experience them currently as chaotic and unpredictable, leading to constant frustration. As a result, there is reason to be optimistic about further progress in democratization: it depends on improving the functioning of existing institutions, not transforming deep-rooted cultural norms. In the Conclusion, Carnaghan applies her argument to elucidating the reasons why Russians have responded favorably to what Westerners see as moves in an antidemocratic direction by Vladimir Putin's government.
E-Book Content
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OUT OF ORDER
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OUT OF ORDER Russian Political Values in an Imperfect World
ELLEN CARNAGHAN
T H E P E N N S Y LVA N I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S U N I V E R S I T Y P A R K , P E N N S Y LVA N I A
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carnaghan, Ellen Out of Order : Russian political values in an imperfect world / Ellen Carnaghan p.
cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 987-0-271-02973-1 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-271-02973-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Political culture—Russia (Federation) 2. Russia (Federation)—Politics and government—1991– —Public opinion. 3. Public opinion—Russia (Federation) I. Title. II. Title: Russian political values in an imperfect world. JN6699.A15C38 2007 306.20947—dc22 2006028920
Copyright © 2007 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. This book is printed on Natures Natural, containing 50% post-consumer waste, and meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
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List of Tables
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vii
Acknowledgments
ix
A Note on Transliteration
xiii
1
Out of Order
2
The Tangled Web of Culture
3
Russians in Their Own Words
4
Abstract Notions of Democracy Versus
1
Current Experiences
13 43
73
5
Views of Markets: Russians Confront Inequality
6
Views on Order, Disorder, and Democracy
7
Views of Change: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
8
What Russians Want
9
Conclusion
265
Appendixes