Russian+Political+Culture

=**Russian Political Culture**: **CEV**=

**Geographic Setting:**
Russia is the world's largest country in terms of land area. It is also largely landlocked and is one of the world's coldest countries. This had several consequences for the historical Russian empire. They had to warm water port, and they were militarily indefensible. Russian expansion allowed the empire to gain warm water ports as well as create a buffer zone to stop invading armies. This expansion led to many problems however. Russia has a huge number of ethnic minorities, and much of the country is sparsely populated. A significant proportion of Russia's large supply natural of resources is locked in Siberia, far away from urban population centers. So, the Russian government has historically forced lives of destitution on rural farmers. This has led to political schisms between the urban and rural areas of Russia on top of ethnic conflict.



Russia expanded outwards, towards the sea as well as creating a buffer zone around Moscow.

Global Insights: Russia's New Military Doctrine Reaffirms Old Values"
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=5094

This article reviews Russia's newest military doctrine. The doctrine emphasizes the need of the Russian government to avert what they perceive as threats and justifies using nuclear weapons for defensive purposes. The doctrine also expresses seemingly paranoid ideas that NATO and the United States are enemies of Russia, despite the US's newest military doctrine pointing to Russia as an important ally in the years to come.

This article expressed the Russian attitude of expansion. Since Russia was traditionally an indefensible region militarily, the culture has been one of paranoia and worry of its neighbors. This fear has not extinguished in recent years, and has expressed itself in military doctrines like the newest one.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/warm-water-port.htm http://web.stratfor.com/images/Geopoliticsofrussia081015.pdf http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/50/3850-004-501E9B41.gif

**Eastern Orthodoxy:**
The Eastern Orthodox Church has shaped much of Russia's political ideology and culture. Russia was isolated in Europe as they did not support Rome in the Great Schism. Russia developed its own distinctive ideas that did not support a separation of church and state, and opposed the western emphasis on a civil society. The Tsars rested their right to rule on the church and imposed Russia developed a statist culture throughout its history. The privileged citizens of Russia encouraged and developed these ideas. The reasons for this lie in the geographic problems explained above. The culture of strong rulers lasted even after the collapse of the Tsars. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union there have been attempts to reduce governmental control in Russia, but the sucess of these initiatives has been limited at best despite many Russians seeming to want change.


 * Statism:** Sovereignty rests in the state, not the people living within the state who exist only to enhance the power of the state


 * Civil Society:** The combination of all non government entitites in a society free from control by the state



"Can Medvedev emulate Gorbachev?"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-aron10-2010feb10,0,7122634.story?track=rss

This article poses the question of whether Russia can establish a democratic government and relax government control over the economy. Recently, President Medvedev has been harsh towards Russia's government. He claims their system needs to become more free and Russian society must become more conducive to individual rights. However, Putin is simply ignoring Medvedev and continuing along with his own ideas. The article gives the example of Medvedev trying to get Russia to join the WTO. Putin declared that Russia would not join the WTO unless very specific conditions were met. They are constantly in rhetorical disagreement with one another. The article asserts that for Medvedev to make the type of reforms Gorbachev did he will have to back up his rhetoric with substantial action, which he has not done thus far.

This relates to the idea of the Russian Statism established by the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is difficult for Medvedev to get his desired reforms accomplished because strong leadership and statism is such an integral part of Russian politics. Putin still has a higher approval rating than Medvedev, and Putin's power has stopped Medvedev from taking control thus far. The article shows how difficult it is for Medvedev to do anything substantial because of Russian political culture.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2cP0wc_E6yEC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=unia+and+orthodox&source=web&ots=v4DV6M65pw&sig=dT2IG3shA3rePTXlY1ls1hSEklI#v=onepage&q=&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=Q5Z_evECb1UC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=eastern+orthodox+statism&source=bl&ots=og-Q8YQh8K&sig=RVV5DJqKKswVe0BfhUtEGqRGFQQ&hl=en&ei=g7B0S7zSDMzT8Ab8vZz0CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01537/Russia-politics-po_1537290c.jpg

**Equality of Result (contrasted to equality of opportunity):**
The Communist rule in Russia created a deep appreciation of equality in Russian society. Serfs had been traditionally oppressed by the Tsars, and the revolutions of 1917 were largely a reaction to the horrible conditions suffered by the the lower classes for centuries at the hands of the upper classes. The Communist system favors an abolition of social classes, which would have been appealing to the poor lower class citizens prevalent in Russia at the turn of the century, who were oppressed for no reason other than tradition. For the duration of the Soviet Union, equality of results was the dominating goal of the government. These Communist ideas have become ingrained in Russian society, which now values equality of results as a whole. This makes it rather difficult for capitalism to take root in Russia because a capitalist system embraces inequality of results.

Fifty-five percent of Russians believe in an equal standard of living for all citizens.

"More Rallies Planned in Russia"
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/More+rallies+planned+Russia/2549085/story.html

The article describes a future rally against the government's policies by the communist party in Russia. The protesters will be demonstrating against rising prices and lowering wages, as well as high unemployment. This relates to the trend of equal standards of living because the Russians protesting desire for the government to help them in some way greater than they already are. This reflects their belief that the government should provide for all its citizens, especially those in the middle and lower classes.

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/language/Ruslang/tolstoy/history.html http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/russian-revolution-of-1917/causes-of-the-russian-revolution.html http://www.russiavotes.org/national_issues/national_issues_politics.php

**Hostility Toward the Government:**
Russian politics are a practice of pessimism. The liberal party in Russia is pessimistic because they do not trust the leaders, and the conservative party are pessimistic about relations with the United States. The people are pessimistic about their political and economic futures. Traditionally, Russia has used invisible enemies, especially the US, to keep the people's minds away from domestic affairs. When glasnost was initiated, it created more transparency in the government. Dissidents were allowed a voice, and the abuses of the Soviet government came to light. Russians have a lasting hostility toward their leaders because of the oppression they faced under the soviet regime.


 * Glasnost:** Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of freedom of information and government transparency implemented in the late days of the Soviet Union

Close to twenty percent of Russians think their country will fall into anarchy.

"Civil Unrest in Russia Mounts"
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia-and-its-neighbors/090203/civil-unrest-russia-mounts

This article profiles protesters in Moscow. They protest against economic conditions, but especially the government that allows the economic problems of Russia to persist. Russians are hostile towards their government, and more and more are coming out to protest the economic policies of the government during the recession. The protesters cover their faces out of fear that they will be seen by the Russian authorities. The article claims that most discontent may be in places far from Moscow, where the old Soviet system of industrial work still prevails. This shows that the Russian people are becoming increasingly hostile to what they perceive as the secret and authoritarian ways of their government. They do not trust the government to get them out of a crisis, so they fight against it.

http://www.russiavotes.org/national_issues/national_issues_politics.php http://www.russiavotes.org/national_issues/expectations09.php http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/glasnost/effects.html http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/05/russian_pessimism.htm

**The Importance of Nationality:**
Russia, being a very large nation brought to being through military prowess, has a large number of ethnic minorities. Racism and Xenophobia are very persistent problems in post soviet Russia. Youth gangs made up of skinheads have terrorized many ethnic minorities, especially Jews. Russian society also has a general mistrust of Gypsies. Synagogues and Mosques have been attacked, foreign residents beaten, and in some cases murdered. Activists for minority rights have also been murdered by these gangs.

media type="custom" key="5352229"

"Russian Town Hit by Race Violence"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5312078.stm

This article summarizes an incident of race violence in a northern Russian town. After two Russians died in a barfight with Chechens, hundreds of Russians stormed into the town and burned cars and businesses owned by people from Caucasus. This illuminates the racist situation in Russia right now. Minorities living in Russia are harassed by extremist groupts.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901040809-674718,00.html http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/pm_0367.pdf http://www.russiavotes.org/national_issues/racism.php#545