Skip to main content

Uncertain Conditions in the Russian Transition: the Popular Drive toward Stability in a ‘Stateless’ Environment

  • Chapter
Political Culture in Post-Communist Russia
  • 76 Accesses

Abstract

Of all the changes in contemporary Russia, the most vexing for the people has been the disappearance of the all-encompassing stability; the trauma experienced by Russians today can be attributed to the overarching loss of the Soviet state. It had provided a structured political system, a broadly functioning economic infrastructure and a developed social-welfare system. Even though the political system was exclusionary and repressive, economic production had stagnated in the mid-1970s, and the social-welfare system was substandard, as judged by the West, Soviet state structures gave people a perspective on their future and a consistent and popularly understood environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes and References

  1. C. Offe, ‘Capitalism by Democratic Design? Democratic Theory Facing the Triple Transition in East Central Europe’, Social Research, Vol. 58, no. 4 (Winter 1991), 865–92.

    Google Scholar 

  2. For an example of a macro-analysis, see J.M. Nelson, ‘Linkages Between Politics and Economics’, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 5, no. 4 (October 1994), 49–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. C. Leff, ‘The Triple Transition in Eastern Europe’, Swords and Ploughshares, Vol. VII, no. 2 (Winter 1992–93), 6–10.

    Google Scholar 

  4. M. Weber, ‘The Fundamental Concepts of Sociology’, in T. Parsons (ed.), The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (New York: Free Press, 1964), p. 156.

    Google Scholar 

  5. J.P. Nettl, ‘The State as a Conceptual Variable’, World Politics, Vol. 20, no. 4 (July 1968), 559–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. R.C. Tucker, ‘Swollen State, Spent Society: Stalin’s Legacy to Brezhnev’s Russia’, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 60, no. 2 (Winter 1981–82), 414–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. J. Gibson, ‘The Resilience of Mass Support for Democratic Institutions and Processes in the Nascent Russian and Ukrainian Democracies’, in V. Tismaneanu (ed.), Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1995), pp. 53–111.

    Google Scholar 

  8. T. Skocpol, ‘Bringing the State Back In: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research’, in P.B. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer and T. Skocpol, Bringing the State Back In (Cambridge: Cambridge, 1985), pp. 20–1.

    Google Scholar 

  9. A. Swidler, ‘Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies’, American Sociological Review, Vol. 51 (April 1986), 279–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. T. Hobbes, Leviathan (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994), pp. 172–89.

    Google Scholar 

  11. See also, J. Linz and A. Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  12. See also V. Mikhalev, ‘Social Security in Russia under Economic Transformation’, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 48, no. 1 (1996), 5–25;

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. and, L. Kosova, ‘Satisfaction with Life and the Intensity of the Reforms’, Russian Social Science Review, Vol. 37, no. 1 (January–February 1996), 37–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. See also L. Gudkov, ‘Dynamics of Ethnic Stereotypes’, Russian Social Science Review, Vol. 37, no. 3 (May/June 1996), 54–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. For an overview of demographic changes, see M. Lewin, The Gorbachev Phenomenon (Berkeley: University of California, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  16. L. Shelley, ‘Post-Soviet Organized Crime: Implications for Economic, Social and Political Development’, Demokratizatsiya, Vol. 2, no. 3 (Summer 1994), 341–358.

    Google Scholar 

  17. E.M. Rybinskii, ‘The Position of Children in Russia’, Russian Social Science Review, Vol. 37, no. 2 (March/April 1996), 78–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  19. For elaboration, see A. Akhiezer, ‘The Values of Society and the Possibilities of Reform in Russia’, Russian Social Science Review, Vol. 37, no. 1 (January–February 1996), 43–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. and N.A. Kosolapov, ‘An Integrative Ideology for Russia: The Intellectual and Political Challenge’, Russian Social Science Review, Vol. 37, no. 1 (January–February 1996), 60–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2000 James Alexander

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Alexander, J. (2000). Uncertain Conditions in the Russian Transition: the Popular Drive toward Stability in a ‘Stateless’ Environment. In: Political Culture in Post-Communist Russia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230507913_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics