Russian Political Culture

1
Russian Political Culture
2
Citizens, Society, and the State

• Nationality
• Most important single cleavage in Russia
• 80 of population is Russian
• Others include
• Tatars
• Ukrainians
• Armenians
• Chuvashes
• Bashkis
• Byelorussians
• Moldavians

3
Nationality continued

• Nationality cleavages determine the organization
  of the country into federations, autonomous
  regions, republics, and provinces
• Many ethnic groups would like to have their
  independence, but are enticed by trade benefits
  with the Russian government to stay in the
  Federation
• Chechnya is the one exception

4
Chechnya

• Primarily Muslim region of Russia
• Contains some valuable resources, such as oil
  fields
• Independence movement is strong, and Russian
  government has struggled to keep Chechnya region
  within its control
• Chechens have reverted to terrorist tactics
  including taking over a heavily attended Russian
  theater and in 2004 the seizure of a school that
  resulted in the deaths of over 350 people, mostly
  children

5
Religion

• Russian Orthodox under the tsars
• All religion prohibited during the Soviet Unions
  rule
• Boris Yeltsin encouraged Russian Orthodox Church
  to reestablish itself as a signal of a break from
  communism and a reflection of old Russian
  nationalism
• Other religions represented in very small
  percentages (Roman Catholic, Jews, Muslims,
  Protestants)

6
Social Class

• Nomenklatura only about 7 of the citizenry were
  CPSU members, and all political leaders were
  chosen from this group.
• Business Oligarchy emerged during Yeltsins
  regime, often former KGB and CPSU leaders,
  granted favors by Yeltsin government to promote
  business.
• Struggled in late 1990s but have emerged as
  leaders in Russia after acquiring major
  corporations
• Putin has arrested/exiled oligarchs not willing
  to support him

7
Linkage Institutions Today

• Huge fortunes made by oligarchs and the mafia
  offend the equality of opportunity principle of
  the Russian people
• In 2003, Mikhail Khodorvsky, the richest man in
  Russia and CEO of the Yukos Oil Company was
  arrested after campaigning against Putin
• Yukos was slapped with massive penalties and
  additional taxes, forcing it into bankruptcy

8
Mass Media

• A linkage institution with close ties to both the
  state and the oligarchy, has been manipulated by
  dominant political and interest groups to pursue
  their own causes

9
Rural vs. Urban Life

• 73 of all Russians live in urban settings,
  usually in the western part of the country
• Economic divide between rural and urban residents
  is wide, however, all Russians have been hit hard
  by recent economic woes of the post-Cold War
  Russia
• Urban residents tend to be more educated and in
  touch with western culture

10
Beliefs and Attitudes

• Mistrust of Government result of mistreatment
  and government secrecy during tsarist and Soviet
  regimes
• Statism despite mistrust of government, Russian
  citizens still expect the state to take active
  role in their lives
• Economic Beliefs nearly all groups and
  political factions favor market reforms, although
  not all do so enthusiastically
• Westernization - Slavophile vs. Westernizer
  some political parties emphasize nationalism,
  Russian interests, and Slavic culture others
  emphasize reform, and integration of Russia into
  world economy and global trade

11
Political Participation

• In 1991 voter turnout in the Russian Federation
  was higher than the U.S.
• Presidential voter turnout declined from 75 in
  1991 elections to less than 65 for the 2004
  election
• It rose to 70 for the 2008 election
• Only 22 of Russias citizens report being a
  member of a political party
• Few Russians are members of clubs, churches, or
  cultural groups (weak civil society)

12
Equality of Result

• Communist regime instilled a value of equality in
  the Russian people already strong in a country of
  peasants with similar living standards
• Egalitarianism has survived the fall of the
  Soviet Union
• Most Russians resent differences of wealth or
  income
• Russian political culture is not particularly
  conducive to the development of capitalism

13
Hostility toward Government Nationality

• Hostility to Govt.
• Despite strong, central authority and Russian
  statism, citizens can be surprisingly hostile
  toward their government
• Years of repression spark resentment that leads
  to badmouthing of political leaders
• Pessimism towards political and economic policies

• Importance of Nationality
• Cultural heterogeneity
• Discrimination and historical stereotypes
• Baltic peoples usually viewed favorably,
  Muslim-Turks viewed in a negative light
• Anti-Semitism was strong under the Tsars, some
  nationalists in Russia blame the Jews for
  Russias current problems