Russia: Citizens, Society, and The StateAP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

Nationality

There are many societal cleavages that greatly impact policymaking. These cleavages include:

Nationality, religion, social class, and rural v. urban divisions

Nationality is one of the main cleavages in Russia. 80% of the Russian population is identified as being Russian

20% however are identified as Tatars, Ukrainians, Armenians, Chuvash's, Bashkis, Byelorussians, and Moldavians.

Due to these differences in nationality, Russia was formed into a federation with autonomous regions

These regions are republics with borders based upon ethnicity

Many of these regions would like to have independence but beneficial trade partnerships push them to stay

In 2004 Chechnya tried to fight for independence (clarify this) Russia was able to keep them in the Russian Federation by writing a new constitution

but the relationship is still touchy

Religion

Under Tsarist rule, Russia was extremely Russian Orthodox Under Soviet rule, religious practices of all kinds were banned

With the establishment of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin encouraged the Russian Orthodox Church to reestablish itself While the Orthodox Church has reestablished itself, and many

Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox, very few people actually attend church

In 2007 the Russian Church Abroad and the Russian Orthodox Church reunited showing greater acceptance of religion within the country

Religion

Religion and Ethnic Groups in Russia

Religion Ethnic Groups

Russian Orthodox 15-20% Russian 79.8%

Muslim 10-15% Tatar 3.8%

Other Christian 2% Ukrainian 2%

Chuvash 1.1%

Note: estimates are of practicing worshipers: Russian has large numbers of non-practice believers and non-believers, a legacy of soviet rule

Other 12.1%

Religion

Russia has the greatest concentration of Muslims in Europe, with the exception of Turkey Muslims are generally located in Moscow

They form a large share of laborers

The Caucasus

This area is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea

This is the region where the Chechens have been controlled

This region has a tendency for violence

Bashkortostan and Tatarstan

These tend to be the calmest of regions for Muslim/Russian relations

Social Class

With the fall of the Soviet Union the entrepreneur class began to rise This class has been pushed by Yeltsin and Putin, who have granted

large favors to the class of citizens

Rural v Urban

73% of the Russian population lives in cities in the western portion of the country There is a wide economic gap between those in the cities and those

in the country

Citizens in the cities tend to be wealthier, better educated and more in touch with western culture

Beliefs and attitudes

The concept of Marxism, which was based on the idea that the industrialized west would eventually fall, led to strong nationalism The belief that their society would out last all others lead many to

buy into the Marxist system

Stalinism tried to strengthen these concepts through internal development When the USSR fell, it brought a tide of changing attitudes to Russia

Beliefs and attitudes

Mistrust of government- Most do not trust government officials or institutions

People support democratic ideals of free elections and wide spread individual civil liberties and rights, but don’t trust officials to institute those policies

There is also very little political participation because of this mistrust

Statism- Russian citizens believe the state should take an active role in their

lives

Russians expect a great deal from their government because of their history as subjects, rather than as participants

Beliefs and attitudes

Economic Beliefs- Economic beliefs are separated by those who support old style Soviet

tactics and those who support a market style economy

This argument is generally made amongst generational lines

Westernization Slavophile v westernizer

Political Participation

Early in Russian voting history, close to 100% of the citizens voted for their leader These elections were not free and competitive, and those who did not vote

faced strict consequences

Gorbachev instituted competitive elections, but it was between people from the same party with similar attitudes

This effectively gave the citizens no choice in their leader

Voter turnout rates have dropped since the establishment of the Russian Federation in 1991 During the election of 1991, 75% of eligible citizens voted

In 2004 less than 64.3% of citizens voted

In 2008 it was 69.7%

In 2012 it was 62.5%

Civil Society

There is very little form of political participation within the society This is due to a relatively undeveloped civil society

Most Russians don’t attend church

Most also do not belong to sports leagues, literary or cultural groups, charitable organizations, or labor unions

Only 1% of people belong to a political party

Much of civil society was demolished with the start of the Soviet Union The state setup a state corporatist arrangement where the

government could control the voice of the people

Russian Youth Groups

The Nashi is a youth movement created by Putin It is a group designed to build a following of loyal, and patriotic

young people who would support the state