Russian Society at the Threshold of New Decades
Mikhail Ilyin, Elena Shestopal, Svyatoslav Kaspe, Sergey Khenkin, Vladimir Lapkin, Aleksei Kuzmin, Igor Kliamkin, Victor Sergeev
Presidential Elections of 2000 and Paradigms of Russian Development («Round Table» March 20, 2000)
Proclaiming formally in 1990s the renunciation to the soviet model of state and the socialist values, the beginning of democratization, the ruling elites did not formulate the meaning of this process. The actual regime had no responses to the most of that challenges. The country wasn't stable in the political aspect. The legitimacy of this regime is very uncertain. It is still difficult to define what legal tradition the present regime inherited and whether it proceeded from the Russian empire, or the Soviet Union or the state formed in 1991. Russia didn't react to the challenges of the modernization and of the multipolar world. The actual key tasks should be the purposes determination and the restoration of the non-totalitarian statehood. The reinforcement of the civil society could lead to the broadening of the supreme power resources.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-5-27
Pages: 5-27
Development Strategy in the Values Background of Russian Society
The indifferent attitude of the modern elite to the development idea is really catastrophic. This idea is called for the being the subject both of the strategic determination and of the public values formation. The complicated problem today is to form the modernized values motivation of the political class. It is obvious that the modernization includes not only the elaboration of the development conception and strategy, but first of all the elite's political will to realize this strategy in correspondent form of the practical policy.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-28-35
Pages: 28-35
Formation of the Russian Multiparty System
Today the party system in Russia does not represent an influential public institute. The party activities cover the narrow sphere of the public relations and the limited segments of the society. The party system may develop in two ways: 1) as the necessary intermediary mechanism between the civil society and the state or 2) like in the traditional paternalist societies (particularly, the Eastern type), where the parties play the decorative or semi-decorative role as a formal institute, while the other mechanisms are realizing the political leadership.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-36-45
Pages: 36-45
Russian Parties and «Western Model»
The most part of the post-soviet Russian parties did not become the mass national organizations and thus could not express the interests of the social stratum. The constitution adopted in 1993 moved the parties away the policy; the groups of interests and the mass media took a number of their functions. That was a stumbling block on the way of the parties' conversion into an authoritative power. The crisis of the Russian parties, reminding in some aspects the situation in the West, however had different consequences. Western parties have already fulfilled their mission in the creation of the highly developed civil society, the establishment of the democratic institutes and the formation of the adequate political culture. The way to form the party democracy, where the parties play the role of the main policy subject at the modern stage is closed for Russia.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-46-50
Pages: 46-50
Party and Modernization: Russian Versions
The difficulties associated with the formation of the party system in Russia are interconnected with the universal tendencies of degeneration of the traditional political party institute. The main actors on the political stage are the pre-modern party of so-called «Lenin's type» and the supermodem «party of the power» (more virtual, than Berlusconi’s party in Italy). The artificial creation of such opposition holds a threat to the democratic development of Russia.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-51-63
Pages: 51-63
Elections in the Mirror of Public Opinion
Anna Grebennikova, Svyatoslav Kaspe
Parliamentary Campaign of 1999 and Electoral Sociology
The sociological studies define the society preferences during the pre-election period and at the same time form these preferences. Thus the questions concerning the impact of the electoral sociology on the electoral process and the correlation of the studies data with the election results are of great actual importance. The conducted analysis shows us that during the Parliamentary campaign the Russian sociology as a whole has demonstrated the sufficient adequacy. The swings of the party ratings do correlate with the political changes and with the Presidential ratings; and some times vice versa, that is the strategies modification of the electoral subjects under the pressure of changes in the level of their population support.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-64-86
Pages: 64-86
Perspectives of the Middle Class in Russia
The Middle Class: Approaches to the Research
The research of the middle class revenues level as the main criteria of the quantitative assessment allows to conclude that the strength of the middle class in 1992 was about 30-35% of the population. The crisis of 1998 reduced its strength by 17 percentage items approximately. Thus the middle class in Russia still exist, but is not the most numerous.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-87-97
Pages: 87-97
Vladimir Lapkin, Vladimir Pantin
The Middle Class in Transformational Process
In spite of all the difficulties the formation process of the Russian middle class as the social community goes rather quickly. It is marked by the strong ability to survive, mobility and the ability of adaptation to the changing conditions. Actually the middle class has approached more than ever to its conversion into a mass social stratum which play the leading role in the economic and political development of the society.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-98-109
Pages: 98-109
Despite the sharp turns in the economic development and social polarization, the weakness of the middle class and its small number, the centrist idea is still attractive for the Russian public opinion. Various politicians estimate this concern positively, taking into consideration the existence of the powerful middle class in the USSR of the 70-80s.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-110-115
Pages: 110-115
Ideologies
Liberalism as the Political Ideology
One of the reasons of the liberal ideology failure in Russia is that it was represented in the form of the «classic» liberalism, difficult in understanding for the post-totalitarian society. The analogous reasons led to the unpopularity of the modern libertarianism (of the Nozik's sort). An admissible alternative to it is the John Rawls «theory of justice», the modern version of the reformist liberalism, that concentrates not only on freedom, but on justice. Such version of liberalism could give a new impulse to the democratic transformations in Russia and further the society stabilization and consolidation around the synthesis of the new and the traditional values.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-116-130
Pages: 116-130
Political Cultures
Political Laughter Element in Russia
The main stream of the Russian political culture is found today in the public sphere. Genetically it is inherited first of all from the popular laughter culture. That is understandable. In the first place, the public political humor today comes mainly from the public politicians, whose career has started rather recently (at the end of the 80-s - the beginning of 90-s or even later). Hence their «top-level» approach to the humor and to the laughter element in general. In the second place, the public political laugh is inevitably oriented at the voters and the society. In order to be understandable and highly appreciated by the addressees, the humor has to be utterly available that is to say it should be based on the traditional popular humor.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-131-148
Pages: 131-148
Foreign Political Systems
German Federalism: New Tendencies
In the second half of the 60s in the FRG the conception of cooperative federalism appeared, that provided for the mutually beneficial cooperation between the center and the federation constituents. The legal practice within the state in the 90 years revealed a new federalism variety, based primarily on the competition principle. The adherents to the competition federalism came out in favor the jurisdiction broadening and the increase of responsibility of the lands as the autonomous centers. The developed discussion contributed to the improvement of the federal system of Germany.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-149-160
Pages: 149-160
Particular Features of the State Ecological Policy (by the Example of the USA and Germany)
The experience of the USA and Germany shows that the success of the ecological policy is determined by the activity efficiency of the responsible state institutions, the effectiveness of the laws and control, high cost of the ecological risks for the culprits, the activity and positions' stability of the environment protectors and the victims from its pollution. In the final analysis the success of the ecological policy on the state level depends on the level of the importance that is attached to this trend in the internal and the external policy of the state.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-161-175
Pages: 161-175
Chronicle
At the origins of Russian Multiparty System: Political Crises in 1987-1988
The 1987-1988 years are characterized by the coming out underground of the informal groups, the acquisition of independence from the KPSU, determination of their ideology. For this short period they studied the democratic culture of the manifestations and of the conflict settlement between the political organizations of different orientation. The author, the participant of the political fight of that period, re-creates the chronicle of the main events according to the documents collected by himself.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-176-183
Pages: 176-183
Political Parties and Movements of Russia (the Second Half of January - March 2000)
The victory of Vladimir Poutin in the Presidential elections of March 2000 marked the completion of the «Great Russian revolution» with starting point in the end of 80s. Hereafter the questions concerning the privatization results, the limitations on private initiative, the status of private property have not to be raised. «The Great Russian revolution» of the 90s of XX century established the new state institutes; this juridical form has to be filled by the adequate social content. The analysis of the Presidential campaign is supplemented by the chronological description of the main events of the Russian party and political life in the first months of 2000.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2000-15-1-184-198
Pages: 184-198